Revolut boss renounces Russian citizenship as father is sanctioned
THE chief executive of Revolut has renounced his Russian citizenship, as he continues his pursuit of a UK banking licence and his father is sanctioned by Ukraine for his role with Gazprom.
Nikolay Storonsky Jnr, co-founder of the $33bn (£29bn) fintech company, previously held both British and Russian passports but renounced his Russian citizenship following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
It comes as his father, Nikolay Storonsky Snr, was sanctioned earlier this month by the Ukrainian government over his role as director-general of Gazprom Promgaz, the engineering and research arm of the Kremlin-controlled energy company.
Mr Storonsky Snr was included in a list of sanctions in Ukraine on Oct 19 that was proposed by the country’s national security and defence council and signed off by its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The NSDC said that owing to his position at Gazprom Promgaz, Mr Storonsky Snr “is responsible for the material and financial support of actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.
As a result of the sanctions, his Ukrainian assets will be frozen and he will be banned from entering Ukraine, the country of his birth. He has not been sanctioned in any other jurisdiction.
The revelation that his father has been sanctioned and his decision to revoke his Russian citizenship highlight the difficult position the Revolut chief executive has found himself in.
Mr Storonsky Jnr has publicly criticised Russia’s invasion from the outset of the war, calling it “totally abhorrent” and suspending Revolut’s operations in Russia and Belarus.
The company also established a new hub in Dubai to relocate its Ukrainian and Russian staff and their families. It comes on the back of a turbulent few months for Revolut, with the company suffering a series of high-profile resignations, and facing questions around its auditing and a cyber attack that affected around 50,000 customers.
The company is also still awaiting a decision on its UK banking licence application, which it applied to the Financial Conduct Authority for in January 2021. The UK application is regarded as a key milestone in Revolut’s development that may help unlock further funding in a tougher market for tech ventures. A spokesman for Revolut said: “Nik is a British citizen. Earlier this year, he renounced his citizenship by birth to Russia. His position on the war is on the public record: the war is totally abhorrent and he remains resolute in calling for an end to the fighting.
“As the crisis escalated, we offered relocation support to all of our Ukraine-based employees, in case they wanted to relocate, whether they wanted to relocate to another country, or to somewhere else within Ukraine. We also closed our offices in Russia, offering the same relocation support to our employees working there.”