Boris Mints is one of the few wealthy Russian businessmen who have spoken out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin.
The bulk of prominent individuals in the country have remained mute about the war to avoid criticizing the Kremlin.
According to Mr. Mints, there is one clear explanation: “They are all terrified.”
The Kremlin has a reputation for repressing President Putin’s vocal detractors by controlling the content of Russian news outlets. Since 2014, unapproved demonstrations have also been prohibited throughout the country.
Mr. Mints stated that “everyone” who openly criticizes Putin has “reason to fear for their life.”
However, in an email interview, he stated, “I have no intention of living in a bomb bunker-like Mr. Putin.”
The 64-year-old, who amassed his fortune through investment firm O1 Group, which he started in 2003 and sold in 2018, stated that in Russia, the “typical” technique to punish a business owner for “intolerance” towards the regime was to “launch a fake criminal case against their business.
“Such criminal cases will not only damage the business owners but also their families and employees,” he stated.
“Any corporate leader independent of [Putin] is viewed as a threat because he or she may be capable of financing opposition or encouraging dissent,” he continued. “As such, these individuals are viewed as Putin’s adversaries and, thus, as foes of the state.”
‘Inevitable incarceration’
Mr. Mints has personal experience with this scenario, having first spoken out against President Putin’s policies in 2014 after Crimea was invaded by Ukraine.
Mr. Mints felt compelled to leave Russia for the United Kingdom in 2015 “in the context of an escalating crackdown on political dissent,” with Boris Nemtsov being murdered that same year.
Mr. Nemtsov was an ardent opponent of President Putin. His murder in 2015 is the most prominent political assassination since Vladimir Putin assumed power. The government denies any involvement.
Two years later, the previous investment firm of Mr. Mints, O1 Group, “found itself in an open conflict with the Central Bank of Russia,” he added, with legal processes commencing in multiple jurisdictions.
“When things like these begin to occur, it is a clear indicator that one should quickly leave the nation,” he stated.
The Kremlin continues to pursue legal action against him.
Mr. Mints suggests that the “bravest step available” for wealthy Russians who dislike Mr. Putin is to “go silently into exile,” citing the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia’s wealthiest man but was imprisoned for nearly a decade on politically motivated charges of fraud and tax evasion.
When calling for peace in Ukraine, two of the country’s most renowned oligarchs, Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska, refrained from directly criticizing Mr. Putin.
Mr. Fridman, a billionaire banker, stated that any personal remarks posed a threat not just to himself but also to his staff and coworkers.
However, Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov, founder of Tinkoff Bank and previous owner of cycling team Tinkoff-Saxo, has joined Mr. Mints in condemning the invasion.
The invasion, according to Mr. Mints, was “the greatest catastrophic event in recent history, not only of Ukraine and Russia but globally.”
He also compared it to the 1939 invasion of Poland by Adolf Hitler.
“This battle is the product of the craziness and power-hunger of a single individual, Vladimir Putin, supported by his inner circle,” said Mr. Mints, who led one of Russia’s largest pension fund managers until 2018.
The BBC has sought a response from the Kremlin.
“Fired the day following our meeting”
Mr. Mints was originally introduced to Mr. Putin in the early 1990s, but they did not engage in meaningful conversation until January 2, 2000, two days after Mr. Putin was proclaimed acting president of Russia.
Mr. Mints, who worked for former Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, was eager to share his proposals to reform local government to expand Russia’s democracy into the twenty-first century.
“Mr. Putin listened to my ideas without criticism or disagreement. The next day, Putin fired me,” he stated.
He understood at that time that Mr. Putin’s vision for his country was “miles apart” from that of the previous administration.
Three years after leaving politics, Mr. Mints established a stock brokerage for individual clients.
Mr. Mints has not been sanctioned by the United Kingdom government, unlike other Russian businesspeople with close ties to the Kremlin.
His name did, however, appear on a so-called “Putin list” published by the United States in 2018. 114 of the 210 names identified were government officials, government-affiliated individuals, or prominent businesses.
The other 96, including Mr. Mints, were classed as oligarchs based on their wealth of over $1 billion (£710 million) at the time rather than their close links to the Kremlin.
The father of four was included on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires in 2017 with a net worth of $1.3 billion but was removed in 2018.
However, he refuted claims that he was an oligarch.
“Not every Russian businessperson is pro-Putin, and not every affluent Russian is an ‘oligarch,'” he remarked. “In Russia, the word refers to a business tycoon with close ties to Vladimir Putin, the majority of whose wealth or corporate earnings depend on official cooperation.
“Russia is not just an oil field with an aluminum mine in the middle,” he continued. It is a country with 140 million inhabitants. People there, like everywhere else, have wants, and these needs are not dissimilar to those in the West.”
Mr. Mints, an avid art collector who currently resides in the United Kingdom, is content without the need for additional protection to keep himself and his family safe in the United Kingdom and has no present plans to migrate back to Russia.
