Ukrainian authorities are building a luxury ski resort using funds donated by Romania, according to a false narrative launched by a Romanian publication known for promoting fake news.
NEWS: Ukraine is building a luxury resort worth 1.5 billion Euro with money from Nicuşor and Papahagi. While Papahagi calls for life imprisonment for anyone who challenges the financial aid given by Romania to Ukrainians, Ukraine is developing, on its border with Poland, a luxury complex (a ski resort) worth one and a half billion Euro!
NARRATIVE: Ukraine is using money from international support for projects unrelated to the purpose for which it was donated.
PURPOSE: To promote anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, to undermine public trust in state authorities, to stir and amplify social unrest.
The GORO Mountain Resort is a private investment
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: At a time when emotion often trumps sound argumentation and public outrage is easily manipulated, the article under analysis manages to pack nearly every ingredient of modern disinformation into just four lines: insinuation, guilt by association and a generous dose of resentment. The claim that the luxury resort worth 1.5 billion Euro, built in Ukraine, was financed “with money from Nicuşor and Papahagi” is not merely far-fetched - it is simply false. In short, there is no Romanian funding for this project: not public funds, not “hidden” funds, not funds channelled through NGOs or shady schemes. There are no documents, reports or evidence attesting to any financial involvement from Romania or any Romanian public figure. At this point, there is not even a suspicion of public Ukrainian funds being diverted or budget allocations being redirected to finance this project. The absurdity of the narrative is further underscored by the fact that construction works for the resort started in October 2024, when Nicuşor Dan was not even a presidential candidate.
GORO Mountain Resort is a project developed by OKKO Group, one of Ukraine’s largest private holding companies, its portfolio including energy (a petrol station chain), agriculture, real estate and services. OKKO Group is a privately held, unlisted company controlled 90% by Ukrainian entrepreneur Vitaliy Antonov. The remaining shares are held by institutional financial partners, most notably the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which holds a minority stake through earlier investments and financing provided to the group. According to the company, the project in western Ukraine is financed from three clear sources: the group’s own capital (standing atapproximately 500 million Euro), commercial loans and private investment attracted through a mechanism known in international tourism as “hotel rooms as investment”. This approach is not a Ukrainian invention, nor does it involve public money. Specifically, this mechanism enables individuals and legal entities to purchase hotel rooms or units, which are then managed by a specialised operator. Investors subsequently receive dividends from the operation, a classic process widely used in large-scale tourism and successfully implemented in countries such as Switzerland, Austria, France and the United Arab Emirates.
This mechanism is not a form of public financing, but rather it observes free-market principles and secures funding for a private investment - it is not the framework for a cross-border heist. The only contribution of the Ukrainian state was to grant the project the status of “significant investment”, by means of which it receives a range of tax concessions (tax and duty exemptions, etc.) and expedited bureaucratic procedures. Additionally, in the future, the Ukrainian state may indirectly contribute to the project by developing adjacent public infrastructure (access roads, connection to the national energy grid, etc.). It is precisely at this point that a legitimate discussion can be raised about the appropriateness and, above all, the “morality” of the investment, given that Ukraine, a country engaged in a war of attrition, relies on external aid for its budgetary survival. “These are strategic investments in the reconstruction and future of Ukraine. We see prospects, even in spite of the challenges of war, and we understand the importance of such ambitious projects for the social and economic development of the Lviv region”, OKKO’s general director, Vasil Daniljak, explained at the official launch of the project.
Therefore, GORO Mountain Resort is a legitimate and economically justified Ukrainian private investment. It is not financed with Romanian or other countries’ money, but, at the same time, it is a project that raises moral questions in the context of the war and the collective suffering it generates.
“The Ukraine question”: a favourite theme of false narratives promoted in Romania
BACKGROUND: The “Ukrainian question” remains one of the major themes in the Romanian media landscape, which has been flooded with sovereignist propaganda of Moscow origin. The main narratives along this line focus on the alleged “persecution” suffered by Romanians living on Ukrainian territory, and on the assistance Bucharest authorities is providing to Kyiv to support the war effort. Moreover, Ukraine is held responsible for most of the economic problems Romania is currently facing, simply for refusing to surrender and continuing to fight for its independence and SOVEREIGNTY.
Toeing the same line of propaganda, ActiveNews builds a rhetorical narrative rather than a factual one. There is simply no link between the news about the mountain resort being built and the story of “Romanian money financing the luxury of ungrateful Ukrainians”. To suggest that Romania is financing a luxury resort in Ukraine is to deliberately mislead the reader. Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that, although false, the outrage that the accusation fuels is very real. Ukrainian hospitals are under pressure, the country’s energy and transport infrastructure is constantly under attack, tens of thousands of people have died, and millions more are living on aid or have fled the country.
Beyond its disinformation purpose, the article published by ActiveNews produces extremely harmful effects. First and foremost, it blatantly disinforms by conflating aid provided by Romania to Ukraine with a private project. And secondly (and perhaps most importantly), by turning legitimate criticism into a conspiracy theory, it feeds the radicalisation of the audience and erodes solidarity with Ukrainian neighbours, to the point of outright rejection of any support for Ukraine on false grounds. GORO Mountain Resort is not evidence that Ukraine is “stealing” Romanian or Western money.
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