Late Tuesday evening, Agentstvo received by email a press release signed by Vladimir Vedeneyev, head of Global Network Management (GNM). The email came from an address on the company's domain, which is listed as a contact on one industry website. The publication sent follow-up questions and received answers likely written by Vedeneyev himself.
What the Head of GNM Confirmed
Vedeneyev confirmed that Telegram is one of GNM's clients and that the company provides the messenger with IP addresses. According to him, this does not mean access to traffic or the ability to deanonymize users: GNM is a transit provider without access to traffic content. He also stressed that the company has no access to Telegram's equipment "outside the scope of technical SLAs [service level agreements]."
Responding to a question about access to the data center, Vedeneyev stated: "As part of maintenance and installation, I am of course in the data center on the authorized list—this list allows me to enter the data center that is leased by us and subleased to our client… This is a standard industry practice. You provide me with a server, I have the right to install it, connect it to communication channels… Replace the hard drive at your request."
According to Vedeneyev, he never held positions at Telegram, and his signature as the messenger's financial director on documents was "technical and informal in nature."
Russian Companies and Government Clients
Vedeneyev said that the Russian companies Globalnet and Elektrotelecom, whose IP addresses are now controlled by GNM and used by Telegram, were "completely separated from GNM Inc. in 2024, including a change of ownership." The buyer, according to him, was his sister's husband. GNM itself, according to the response, has had no employees in Russia since 2022; however, Vedeneyev acknowledged that until 2022 there were "remote employees who worked from Russia," but claimed there was no office in Russia.
Responding to a question about the deployment of a deep packet inspection (DPI) system at the request of Roskomnadzor, Vedeneyev stated that telecom operators are obliged to install such systems: "Attempts to attribute compliance with Russian laws to participation in special operations or work with the FSB are absurd and legally untenable."
Vedeneyev did not deny that Globalnet cooperated with GlavNIVTs, clarifying that the company "under the Law 'On Communications' works with all telecom operators or with companies that have an autonomous system." He did not give a direct answer about Elektrotelecom's cooperation with the FSB, but noted that the company "in various years did indeed participate in the implementation of individual contracts for the laying of communication channels and data transmission infrastructure in Russia, including under government contracts." According to him, the activity was limited "exclusively to the technical provision of communication channels between two points."
On Surveillance and Cooperation with Durov
Vedeneyev's response states that the messenger does not transmit a unique user identifier: "Even when intercepting network traffic, it is impossible to determine who is communicating with whom or decrypt a message without a key."
Regarding cooperation with Pavel Durov, Vedeneyev said it began back in Russia with the VKontakte project and then continued within Mail.ru. "In Europe, we started working with Google and only later did Pavel's ambitious project appear, where we gladly helped and implemented complex projects (including during Covid) around the world," he wrote. Asked about friendly relations with Durov, Vedeneyev replied: "We have friendly relations with all our partners."
In its response to the investigation, Telegram emphasized that all of the messenger's servers belong to it and are maintained by its employees, and that none of the service providers has access to confidential infrastructure.
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