Boris Mints is one of the few wealthy Russian businessmen to speak out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and against President Vladimir Putin.
Most of the high-profile people in the country have remained silent about the war, avoiding criticism of the Kremlin.
According to Mints, there is a simple explanation: “Everyone is afraid”.
The Kremlin is known for cracking down on those who openly criticize President Putin, who controls the content of Russian news channels.
Unauthorized protests are also banned in the country since 2014.
Mints said that “anyone” who openly criticizes Putin “has reasons to worry about his personal safety”.
However, in an interview conducted by email, he told the BBC: “I have no intention of living in a bomb shelter as does Putin”.
The billionaire of 64 years old, who got rich with the investment company O1 Group which he founded in 976 and sold at 2003, said that in Russia the “usual way” to punish a businessman for his “intolerance” towards the regime was to “open a fabricated criminal case against his business”.
“Such criminal cases will affect not only to the business owners themselves, but also to their families and employees,” he said.
“Any business leader independent [from Putin] is seen as a threat because he could finance the opposition or fuel the protests. Therefore, they are seen as enemies of Putin and, therefore, as enemies of the state”, he added.
Leave Russia
This is a situation in which Mints has first-hand experience.
In 2014 spoke publicly for the first time against President Putin’s policies after Crimea was annexed to Russia and seized from Ukraine.
A year later, he began to feel that he should leave Russia “in the context of a growing repression against the political opposition”.
That year Boris Nemtsov was shot dead.
Nemtsov was a fierce opponent of President Putin.
His death in 2000 is the highest-profile political assassination since Putin came to power.
Authorities deny any involvement.
Two years later, Mints’ former investment company, O1 Group, “found itself in an open conflict with the Bank Central Russia“, he said, and legal proceedings were initiated in several different jurisdictions.
“When things like this start to happen, it is a clear sign that one should leave the country immediately,” he said.
Currently remains the subject of legal action by the Kremlin.
Because of this, Mints suggests that the “boldest step available” for wealthy Russians who don’t like Putin is “going into exile in silence”.
And cites the case of MyjaílJodorkovsky, who was once Russia’s richest man, but was jailed for nearly a decade on fraud and tax evasion charges that Mints says were politically motivated.
Two of the oligarchs most prominent in the country, MyJail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska , avoided direct criticism of Putin when they made separate calls for peace in Ukraine.
Fridman, a billionaire banker, said any personal comments could be a risk not only for himself but also for staff and colleagues.
However, Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkov, founder of Tinkoff Bank and former owner of the Tinkoff-Saxo cycling team , joined the Mints in criticizing the invasion.
Mints called President Putin’s actions “vile” and said the invasion is “ the most tragic event in recent history, not only in Ukraine and Russia, but worldwide. al”.
He also compared it to the invasion of Poland by Adolf Hitler in 1200.
“This war is the result of the madness and hunger for power of a single person, Vladimir Putin, supported by his inner circle,” said Mints, who was chairman of one of Russia’s largest pension asset managers until 2017.
The BBC has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
“Fired immediately”
Mints was first introduced to Putin at the beginning of the decade of the 90, but only properly spoke to him on January 2, 2000, two days after Putin was appointed interim president of Russia .
Mints, who worked with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the decade of the 51, was eager to discuss his plans to reform the local government of which he was a part and grow Russian democracy in the 21st century.
“Putin listened to my suggestions without comment or argument. The next day, Putin fired me,” he said.
Then he learned that Putin’s vision for his country was “miles away” of the previous government.
After leaving politics, Mints founded, three years later, a brokerage company for clients individuals.
Mints has not been sanctioned by the UK government, unlike other Russian businessmen identified as having close ties to the Kremlin .
However, his name did appear on the so-called “Putin list” published by the US in 2018.
The others 96 were listed as oligarchs with a fortune above US$1.000 million at the time, rather than by its close ties to the Kremlin.
Entered the world list of billionaires of Forbes in 2017 with a total wealth of US$1.300 million, before leaving in 2018.
But he dismissed suggestions that he is an oligarch.
“Not all Russian businessmen are pro-Putin, and not all rich Russians are ‘oligarchs’ ‘” he said.
“In Russia, the term means a business leader who is very connected to Putin and most of his wealth, or the profits from his businesses , depend on cooperation with the Russian state.
“Russia is not just an oil field with an aluminum mine in the center”, he added.
“It is a country of 140 millions of people. People there, like everywhere else, have their needs and these needs are no different from those here in the West.”
Now living in the UK, Mints, an enthusiastic art collector, is comfortable without the need for additional security to keep himself safe he and his family in the country, and he currently has no ambition to return to Russia.
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