The blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp, the most popular instant messengers in Russia, has complicated not only private, but also business communications. More than 80% of Russian companies use these messaging programs to communicate with customers, male Forbes founder of the analysis and consulting agency Infoline Ivan Fedyakov. Their ban disrupted business contacts with consumers that had been built over the years, added Yuri Bocharov, partner at consulting firm Regroup.
He pointed out, “The slowdown in messaging programs represents a step back several years in terms of convenience and speed of communication. We at the company called what was happening a ‘big decline.'”
Small businesses, whose sales were mainly conducted through instant messengers, lose the most from this decline – from 20% to 40% of revenue, according to Bocharov’s estimates. Average business, which has more opportunities to develop alternative communication channels with customers, according to his forecast, will lose from 5% to 15% of revenue. Large companies will have lower costs; Bocharov says it is mainly about strengthening call centers.
Vidyakov is more conservative in his assessments. It is believed that Russian companies’ losses from blocking Telegram and WhatsApp will range from 2% to 15% of business volume, depending on the size and scope of activity.
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Experts interviewed by Forbes agree that at the moment, messengers and other social networks cannot completely replace Telegram and WhatsApp, so companies will work to develop multi-channel communications – not only through alternative platforms, but also through built-in chats on websites and apps, as well as through email, calls and SMS. Some operators have already noticed an increase in demand for call and SMS packages.
The expert opinion was confirmed by representatives of SMEs themselves, who were asked by Forbes how they deal with the messaging ban. They don’t have a worthy replacement yet. “Analogue devices cannot bring the same productivity and convenience to customers as popular instant messengers,” Vladislav Djurovic, founder of chef and pastry marketplace My Cook, told the magazine.
Olga Popova, commercial director of the online tour selection service OnlineTours, said that in December 2025, when Roskomnadzor almost completely blocked WhatsApp, revenues fell by 10%, and the customer loyalty index by 4%. Later, when RKN acquired Telegram, OnlineTours noticed a decrease in coverage in its Telegram channels and a decrease in orders through them. Now, according to Popova, about 50% of their customers have already switched to the government messenger Max. The rest continue to communicate via Telegram.
Vladimir Zagorsky, co-founder of the Vois cosmetics brand, noted that there are 400 thousand subscribers to the Vois telegram channels, and now the brand will need to re-gather the audience at Max: “The company’s losses are minimal: we attract customers with markets and viral content on social networks, and telegrams account for less than 1% of revenue. But if we take the average market value of a messenger subscriber, which is 20 rubles, then we will lose 8 million rubles due to the fact that we will not “We can use this audience in the future.”
In the brand Fairy Clothes Due to the blocking of Telegram, the number of incoming orders decreased by 15%. “Our responses are also delayed, and we lose hot sales because of this (when a customer is ready to make a purchase immediately in the dialogue), it amounts to 10% of revenue,” said Fable founder Artem Gribachev. According to him, the brand is now used to direct communication on Instagram, which is also prohibited, and chatting on the site, as well as calls and SMS to regular customers. But the effectiveness of all these channels is less than the effectiveness of the telegraph, as Gribachev points out.
“Recently, I got nostalgic and joked about the childhood catalogs we received by subscription (like Burda or Quelle), which made me think: Maybe soon we will be ready to release our own printed lookbook and mail it to customers,” says Alina Lozovskaya, founder of the clothing brand Razumno.
Cover photo: Alyona Bjahova / TASS / Profimedia