Cyprus has found no indication that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is involved in the reported purchase of a casino resort in the occupied north, President Christodoulides said on Tuesday.
Turkish opposition portal OdaTV had claimed that a company belonging to Zelenskyy “Film Heritage Inc,” registered in Belize, had acquired the Vuni Palace Hotel and Casino in Kyrenia for a reported 150 million pounds.
When asked about the allegations, Christodoulides said: “The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus have investigated the matter. I repeat, so far, nothing of the sort has emerged.”
“When the investigation is completed, in cooperation with other countries and services, we will be in a position to say more, but at this moment, up until five minutes before I came here, I have been informed that nothing of the sort has emerged.”
The reports, which followed the Pandora Papers leaks in 2021 linking Zelenskyy to the offshore firm, were dismissed as “fake news” by the Russian “GnidaProject” research institute on Twitter.
Their spread on pro-Russian social media just before European elections raised suspicions of an anti-Ukrainian narrative, analysts said.
The allegations were denied by a spokesperson for the hotel in statements to the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday.
Previously, Victoras Papadopoulos, director of the Cypriot president’s press office, said state services had no information on such a purchase but were investigating the claims.
“I hope that it is not part of a hybrid war from the Turkish side,” he added.
According to the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network (CIReN), the Vuni hotel website used as a source to prove Zelenskyy’s alleged connection to the resort is fake.
CIReN noted that the website was created on May 29, 2024.
The YouTube video makes reference to the hotel’s website as a source – but the website is fake! Set up a week ago, just days before the casino purchase allegations were made. pic.twitter.com/NUJAFik54K
— The CIReN (@TheCIReN) June 4, 2024
The real website of the hotel was launched in 2006 and can be found here.
“The real website for Vuni Palace makes no reference to Film Heritage and it was registered in 2006, when the hotel first opened,” CIReN said in a post on X.
“This looks very much like a #disinformation effort,” it added.
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