Khaberni - The Financial Times reported from informed sources that $500 million bonds of the Telegram website were frozen at the Russian Central Securities Depository due to Western sanctions.
The newspaper clarified that the freezing of Telegram's company bonds reflects its association with Russian capital, and that freezing this large amount "will complicate repaying its debts and the opportunities to repurchase its shares."
The United States, the European Union, and Britain have imposed a series of economic sanctions on Moscow following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022, including the freezing of Russian assets, meaning any company funded through Russian bonds is subject to the impact of these sanctions.
The company that owns the Telegram app informed the bondholders that it will repay the debt upon maturity, and the depositing entity will then decide the possibility of transferring the funds to the Russian bondholders.
Reaction from Telegram's Founder
Pavel Durov, the Russian founder of the Telegram platform, quickly wrote a post on his platform account after the Financial Times published, emphasizing that "Telegram company does not rely on Russian capital, and our most recent bond offering worth $1.7 billion did not include any Russian investor."
Durov added that "most of the old bonds issued in 2021 have been repaid, and they pose no problem," referring to the bonds involved in the freezing decision, according to the Financial Times.
Durov further explained in his post that "in any case, the bondholders are not the shareholders, and have no say in Telegram's decisions," adding that he is "the sole shareholder" of the Telegram company.
In the same context, Remy Vaughn, spokesperson for Telegram - in a statement released by Moscow Times - said that the company issued bonds worth $1.7 billion in 2025 with no participation from Russian investors, stating that American investment funds mainly bought them.
Vaughn also explained in his statement that the $500 million, from the bonds that were frozen, "refers to the bonds issued in 2021."
Vaughn added that "the sanctions do not pose risks to Telegram," pointing out that "according to standard procedures, the funds allocated for bond repayment will be transferred to an international intermediary, and subsequent payments to bondholders are outside of the company's responsibility."
Impact on Durov
The Financial Times explained that the freezing of Russian bonds owned by the Telegram platform is especially "shocking" for Durov, who has tried to distance himself from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Western countries since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Durov has regularly dismissed Western reports talking about his links with the Kremlin and Russian security services, describing them, according to the Financial Times, as "conspiracy theories."
Durov has made a huge fortune from his work in the tech sector, with Forbes estimating his wealth at around $17.1 billion.
He also managed to increase the number of active monthly users of the Telegram app to nearly a billion, according to Forbes.
These developments come at a time when Durov was considering an IPO for the company that owns the Telegram app to increase its capital, which he had previously had to postpone due to a trial in France.
Durov, who also holds French citizenship, is facing official investigations in France for being accused of multiple offenses related to enabling organized crime, including violation of children's rights and not preventing extremist content on the app.
Good Sales for the App
Despite the investigations Durov is facing in France, sales of the Telegram app rose by 65% in the first half of last year to $870 million according to the Financial Times compared to $525 million in the same period in 2022.
The company made about $300 million in the first half of 2023, nearly a third of its revenues, which the company describes as "exclusive agreements," whose nature was not specified.
But the Financial Times pointed out that these agreements are related to a cryptocurrency, "Toncoin," which has a close connection to the Telegram platform.
The Guardian previously reported in an earlier article that Durov, who is 41 years old, managed to establish the Russian version of Facebook before launching the Telegram app and a cryptocurrency system, and amassed a huge fortune, despite the conflicts he fought in Russia and then in France.
