Revolut founder gives up Russian citizenship

The businessman has been asking media not to call him a ‘Russian billionaire’

The co-founder and chief executive officer of London-based fintech startup Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky, has renounced his Russian citizenship, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

“Nik is a British citizen. Earlier this year he renounced his citizenship by birth to Russia,” a spokesman for Revolut told the media outlet. “His position on the war is on the public record: The war is totally abhorrent and he remains resolute in calling for an immediate end to the fighting.” 

According to the spokesperson, Storonsky’s move came before his father, an executive at a unit of Russia’s Gazprom, was sanctioned by Ukraine earlier this month. Kiev imposed sanctions on Storonsky’s father on October 19, banning him from entering Ukraine and freezing his assets in the country.

News of the Revolut founder’s decision was first reported by The Telegraph, which said the 38-year-old had dual British and Russian citizenship.

READ MORE: Billionaire renounces his Russian citizenship

Storonsky, who was born in the Moscow Region town of Dolgoprudny, is at least the fourth billionaire to renounce his Russian citizenship over the war in Ukraine. In April, he asked Forbes, which currently estimates his net worth at $7.1 billion, to stop referring to him as Russian.

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