The main events by the morning: August 27

• The popularity of Telegram has grown significantly after the arrest of Pavel Durov. Messenger took the first place in the «Social Networks» category in the French AppStore, and the number of its downloads on iOS worldwide increased by 4%. In the USA, Telegram has risen from 18th to 8th place in the ranking of the most popular applications. At the same time, the UAE authorities demanded that France provide Pavel Durov, their citizen, with access to the necessary consular services.

• Pavel Durov has not been charged. According to a press release from the French Prosecutor's office, an investigation is underway against an «unnamed person» on 12 different charges. Durov is not an accused, although he participates in the trial with an uncertain status. His detention has been extended until Thursday.

• The Russian mortgage market is changing rapidly. Citizens increasingly prefer to leave money on long-term deposits, instead of paying off mortgages ahead of time. As a result, the volume of early repayments decreased by 16% in the first half of 2024, returning to the level of two years ago. Experts believe that borrowers have the means to repay, but prefer to receive high income on deposits and keep the difference between mortgage payments and income from deposits.

• The Baltic countries have disconnected from the Russian energy system. This led to a sharp increase in the average electricity tariff by more than three times — from 4 cents per kWh to 13.08 cents per kWh. For comparison, in Finland, the cost of electricity is only 0.2 cents per kWh, which is 65 times cheaper. The gap in electricity prices between the Baltic countries and Finland has been maintained since May this year.