Digital advertising firm AdNow, reportedly linked to the Kremlin, channelled at least €2mn to Romanian media and influencers promoting conspiratorial and far-right content between 2016 and 2024, according to financial documents obtained by investigative platform Snoop from the Romanian Tax Office.

The investigation aims at establishing the mechanism that propelled little-known candidate Calin Georgescu to take first place in the first round of the presidential election, while the new Party of Young People (POT) took its first parliament seats in the December 1 elections. 

According to Snoop, beneficiaries of AdNow’s funding include websites of television stations such as RTV and Realitatea Plus, as well as extreme right-wing publications and influencers.

AdNow was born in the same London house as Russian state hacking firm GRU, a firm owned by a cousin of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other companies with ties to the Kremlin.

AdNow was involved in spreading vaccine misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the shutdown of hundreds of Facebook and Instagram pages under its control. 

Many of these narratives have resurfaced in the rhetoric of Romanian presidential hopeful Georgescu and the far-right POT party, which beat the long-established Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) in the parliamentary elections.

AdNow’s influence persists, with Romanian websites and social media platforms recording over 440mn impressions in the last month alone from advertisements promoting natural treatments and online scams. Prominent Romanian bloggers and influencers have continued to share propaganda aligned with pro-Georgescu and far-right agendas.