An international group from Dubai has bought a majority stake in the Macedonian ski resort of Kozuf for an initial investment of €200 million, the resorts programme director said.

The new investors, M and G group from Dubai, are planning a complete overhaul of the resort hoping to turn it into one of the biggest ski centres in the region with new hotels and apartments to be built by the end of March next year. The project is being managed by the Candian firm Select Contract which specialises in designing, building and operating leisure centres.

“We hope that tourism will develop in this area as there is a very good environment, mountains for skiing and nearby is Dojran lake and the sea coast in neighbouring Greece,” resorts programme director Pero Tanevski said.

Kozuf is strategically located 60 kilometres from the Greek coast. At the moment it is a very small ski resort with just three ski lifts but it does have a vertical descent of 573 metres and covers a large area with 12 pistes.

The nearest airport is Tessaloniki in Greece and the nearest town in Macedonia is Gevgelija, near the Macedonia-Greece border.