Highlights
- Also, it was back in 2010 when Potanin announced his decision to donate most of his fortune to charity
- According to Forbes, since 2010, the Potanin Charitable Foundation has spent almost 6.5 billion rubles to support culture and education
- Potanin’s firm Interros has begun the process of transferring up to 50% of Rosbank’s shares to the Potanin Charitable Foundation
Amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, sanctioned billionaire and Russia’s richest person Vladimir Potanin has said that he is transferring some of his shares of Rosbank PJSC to his charitable foundation. Potanin’s firm Interros has begun the process of transferring up to 50% of Rosbank’s shares to the Potanin Charitable Foundation, as per the company’s statement on the website yesterday. As per Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the billionaire’s current net worth is $33.4 billion.
The firm is also shifting as much as 10% of its Rosbank holdings to an incentive program for the lender’s employees, who will receive digital financial assets linked to the stock, according to a Bloomberg report.
According to the billionaire, the fund’s target capital will reach the planned amount of 100 billion rubles, “which will ensure the financial stability and long-term nature of its charitable programs.” Potanin himself will not be a member of the governing bodies of the endowment and Rosbank – both organizations will be managed by independent directors. “Entrepreneurs should not just donate funds to charity, but make the public good a part of their business models,” Potanin reportedly said in a statement.
In his statement, Potanin called the incentive program “people’s capitalism”: the company’s employees are turning into its beneficiaries.
Earlier in April 2022, after criticizing Putin’s ‘crazy’ war, Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkov had sold his family’s entire stake in the Tinkoff Bank to Vladimir Potanin.
Russia’s richest man Potanin’s Interros Capital was said to have bought Tinkov’s 35% stake in TCS Group owned Tinkoff bank. That stake purchase of Tinkoff bank was Potanin’s second bank acquisition in April 2022, after his company Interros Capital bought Rosbank PJSC from Societe Generale SA, which sought to pull out of Russia after the Ukraine invasion that began on February 24th 2022.
And it was reportedly in July 2022 that Rosbank for the first time in Russia conducted an investment transaction using digital financial assets (DFA) – it invested in a digital token for palladium. This is the first DFA issued by the domestic platform of Atomize LLC, the first operator of information systems registered in Russia in February 2022, in which digital financial assets are issued. Interros is also one of Atomize’s investors.
“My Fortune Will Not Be Inherited”
Also, it was back in 2010 when Potanin announced his decision to donate most of his fortune to charity. As per a report on russia.postsen.com, the billionaire had told The Financial Times, “My fortune will not be inherited. My capital must work for the good of society and continue to serve the achievement of socially important goals.”
“My children have grown. Their father is a billionaire and celebrity. Firstly, they are in my shadow, and secondly, what is their motivation to achieve something in life? In this sense, I see as the right step the transfer of wealth for the benefit of society, and not by inheritance. I’m going to follow suit [Билла] Gates and [Уоррена] Buffett,” he had reportedly said. Also, in 2013, billionaire Potanin was the first Russian businessman to officially join Gates and Buffett’s global Giving Pledge initiative.
As per the report, the sanctioned businessman established the charitable foundation in 1999. According to Forbes, since 2010, the Potanin Charitable Foundation has spent almost 6.5 billion rubles to support culture and education. In 2022, an endowment fund was formed, the income from which is used to develop and support grant programs in the fields of culture, higher education, social sports and charity throughout the country. In 2021, the fund’s expenses amounted to almost 1.9 billion rubles. The organization held 29 grant competitions for NGOs, and 1,230 organizations received grants.
