No, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy did not buy a casino resort in Cyprus

Context

Allegations that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought a casino resort in Cyprus in May 2024 are circulating widely on social media.

A Facebook caption reads, "Zelensky bought one of the largest casinos in Europe. Turkish media reports that Film Heritage Inc. has acquired the Vuni Palace hotel-casino, located in Kyrenia, a city on the northern coast of Cyprus…According to Turkish media, the purchase was completed in early May 2024."

An X user made the same claim with the comment, "BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS: Zelensky spent $200 MILLION to buy himself a 5 star casino resort on the beaches of Cyprus through his company 'Film Heritage Inc.' Going by the photos on their website the casino which Zelensky bought in Cyprus is very fancy - https://casinohotelvunipalace.com. How is Zelensky going to explain this to his soldiers dying on the front lines?"

However, Logically Facts found that the allegations are unfounded and denied by the hotel resort and Ukrainian authorities. The hotel website linking Zelenskyy to the casino resort is fake.

In fact

The Vuni Palace Hotel denied the allegations that the Ukrainian president owned the property. "The hotel is still under the ownership of the Oscar Group of Companies," a hotel spokesperson told Cyprus Mail. A spokesperson for the Oscar Group also told the news outlet that the company "still owns the Vuni Palace hotel and that Zelenskiy is not one of the group's shareholders."

The claim originates from a since-deleted report by the Turkish news outlet OdaTV. The video footage in the news story and multiple online posts base the claims on the website "casinohotelvunipalace.com." However, we found that the website is fake and not the actual website of the Vuni Palace Hotel. 

The fake website links the casino-hotel resort to Zelenskiyy with a copyright notice reading "Film Heritage Inc." shown on the front page of the hotel. However, it does not appear on the real website. Instead, the copyright is accredited to the "2024 Vuni Palace Hotel Spa & Convention."

The above screenshot shows the fake website. The screenshot below was captured from the actual website
of the Vuni Palace Hotel. (Source: casinohotelvunipalace.com/https://vunipalacehotel.com/Modified by Logically Facts)

Further comparison of the two websites found discrepancies in the website's visuals, URL addresses, and contact information (bottom left). Moreover, the fake website is only in English, while the actual website offers Turkish, English, and German-language services. We also checked the domain name of the fake website and found that the website was registered on May 29, 2024.

Screenshot showing the fake Vuni Palace Hotel website was registered on May 29, 2024. (Source: who.is/Modified by Logically Facts)

The real website of the hotel was registered in April 2006, according to the website who.is, a database that shows domain and IP owner information.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Cyprus also issued a statement denying the claim: "Russian propaganda spreads a fake story that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has allegedly become the owner of one of the largest casinos in Europe, which is located in Cyprus. The mentioned fake story claims that the company which acquired the «Vuni Palace Hotel and Casino», located in Kyrenia, Cyprus, supposedly belongs to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the publication provides no evidence to support its claim. The information itself is false."

A spokesperson from the Presidential Office of Ukraine told Logically Facts, "Yes, this information about President Zelensky's purchase of real estate in Cyprus is an absolute fake."

The 2021 Pandora Papers investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project distinguished the Belize-based company Film Heritage Inc. as owned by President Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska. The Guardian reported in 2021 that Zelenskyy transferred a previously undisclosed share in Film Heritage Inc. two weeks before the first round of voting in Ukraine's presidential election in 2019.

Unfounded claims of President Zelenskyy's high-priced purchases have also circulated online. Logically Facts has previously covered false claims that Zelenskyy bought two mega-yachts worth $75 million and that the Ukrainian President acquired the Highgrove mansion from the British royal family.

The verdict

There is no reliable evidence that President Zelenskyy bought the casino resort in Cyprus in May 2024. The claim originates from a fake resort website, and the Vuni Palace hotel-casino and Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.

Update: This article was updated on June 12, 2024 to add comment from the Presidential Office of Ukraine.