Part of Telegram’s debt is «stuck» in the Russian financial infrastructure: the securities cannot be serviced normally, and redemption becomes bureaucratically and legally more complicated.
Part of Telegram’s debt is «stuck» in the Russian financial infrastructure: the securities cannot be serviced normally, and redemption becomes bureaucratically and legally more complicated.
According to the Financial Times, approximately $500 million of Telegram bonds were «immobilized» in the National Settlement Depository (NSD), which is the central securities depository in Russia. After the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU, US and UK imposed restrictions on NSD, which affected foreign issuers whose securities were held by Russian investors.
The FT writes that Telegram has been actively working with debt in recent years: in particular, in May the company placed bonds for $1.7 billion to buy back previous issues. According to the publication’s interlocutors, Telegram bought back most of the securities maturing in 2026, but the «frozen» package in the NSD remained.
The company, according to the FT, has informed investors that it is ready to repay this debt on time, but further decisions will depend on the paying agent and depositary, whether the funds will be able to reach the holders of securities in Russia. Telegram declined to comment on the situation.
The FT writes that Telegram has previously considered going public, but these plans have not yet moved quickly, in particular due to Pavel Durov’s legal problems in France. At the same time, part of the company’s debt securities are issued in such a way that for investors they can turn into shares if Telegram still decides to hold an IPO. That is, for the owners of these bonds it is important that the securities «work» and can be serviced normally, because they are associated not only with interest and debt repayment, but also with potential participation in a future placement.
In the case of Eurobonds, it is important where exactly the investor’s securities are «located.» If they are accounted for through a sanctioned Russian depository, any actions with them (payments, redemptions, transfers) may be blocked, even if the issuer has money and is ready to pay.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how an update was released for the Telegram messenger, which adds a concise summary from artificial intelligence for posts in channels and pages with «Instant View» and adapts the interface to the Liquid Glass design style.
