WASHINGTON, April 17 Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in an interview that he wanted to settle in the United States, but changed his mind when he was attacked by street robbers in San Francisco. Francisco.
After leaving Russia, the entrepreneur spent some time in Germany, but, according to him, he did not take root there due to excessive bureaucracy — and moved with his business to the UAE. 
«About San Francisco. We really thought that this was a good place for us, since all the technology companies are located in San Francisco or in the surrounding area,» Durov said in an interview with American television journalist Tucker Carlson.
The city and the United States as a whole ruined their impression of themselves after Durov was attacked on a San Francisco street by robbers for the first and only time in his life.
«Three big guys tried to snatch the phone out of my hands. At that moment I was tweeting that I had just met the founder of Twitter. At the time it seemed like a good idea to me,» Durov said.
He fought off the robbers, but the experience came as a shock. “I travel a lot, but this was the first time I was attacked,” the businessman admitted.
The second reason not to move to the United States was, according to him, excessive attention from local intelligence services. Durov explained his choice in favor of the UAE by the ease of doing business there, the efficiency of the tax system, high-quality infrastructure, the neutrality of the country and zero pressure from the authorities.