MY OTHER CAR'S AN AUDI

HEARTS owner Vladimir Romanov may have a dodgy record with coaches - but he's top of the range when it comes to driving taxis.

The Lithuanian multimillionaire sat behind the wheel of a spluttering old Soviet Volga sedan to take a trip down memory lane for a BBC documentary.

Romanov's entrepreneurial zeal was sparked as a teenager when he took a job with the state-run taxi service in his home city of Kaunas.

It's a far cry from the sleek Audi he drives today but he had a ball as he re-visited his past life for Romanov: King of Hearts, to be screened by BBC2 on Tuesday.

Romanov said: "It brought back a lot of memories. I used to make good money for those times as a taxi driver.

"It was good to be back in the Volga - you don't see them around Lithuania much any more.

"But it took me a while to get used to the heavy steering and the stiff gearbox."

Romanov used his taxi to kick start a personal and business empire now worth almost £1billion.

Cars were a luxury in Soviet times and he used the Volga to carry goods he was buying and selling on the black market.

The documentary, made by top Scottish director Stuart Greig, will show how Romanov was blacklisted by the KGB for his business dealings, which were outlawed by the Communist authorities.

Despite this he became a dollar millionaire long before the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991.

Meanwhile Hearts have smashed their record for season ticket-holders after less than a month on sale.

The Jambos have shifted 12,500 tickets for next season and admit they could have sold up to 19,000 briefs.

Tynecastle will be bursting at the seams again next season after putting up the full house signs before every home match last time out.

The club have been forced to place 3000 fans on their priority waiting list, with each of those supporters requesting on average two seats.

A spokesperson said: "We're absolutely thrilled.

"It is very exciting to think we could sell as many as 19,000 seats if we had the space to do so."

Taken from the Daily Record