Time to act

04.12.2012

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The sterling efforts of the Hearts supporters have seen the club reduce its projected deficit of £2million between now and the end of the season by almost 50 per cent, director Sergejus Fedotovas revealed today.

The Gorgie faithful's response to the 2012 Share Issue has helped Heart of Midlothian stave off a recent threat of liquidation. Fans have until Wednesday, December 19 to continue to purchase shares and Sergejus revealed that, despite the amount of work already done, the volume of business over the next two weeks remains critical to the club's financial stability as it heads into 2013.

Speaking to Hearts News, he said: "Words cannot express how grateful we are to those people who have already contributed to the share scheme. Their sacrifices in difficult times have been appreciated by everyone.

"But with just two weeks now remaining to buy shares, time is running out. The Share Issue is designed to create stability and it is important to achieve the targets we have set.

"We would urge those supporters, and particularly those in the corporate sector, to act now if they have not done so already. Much work lies ahead and the window of opportunity for supporters to play their part is closing quickly.

"Unless these targets are hit, going forward we forecast that there will be further battles ahead when it comes to timely payment of bills.

"In this scenario, we will be forced again to look at what we can do with our cost base as all revenue streams are sweating at the moment and there is no reasonable expectation that we can bring significantly more revenue to the club at this moment."

The club was pleased with the resolution to the tax tribunal, which was announced on the club website earlier today.

And Sergejus expressed his hope that this latest settlement with HMRC will encourage previously hesitant fans to participate in the Share Issue.

He said: "The resolution of this dispute gives us a positive nod to expect that those supporters who were wary of the immediate effect on the club of the tax case can now step forward in confidence.

"We are keeping our promise to keep this club alive and we have the results - the petition was agreed and paid, the tax case is resolved.

"It is good to know that we are not alone in our ambitions but we need more involvement as we are in far from good shape and the recent Scottish Cup result is the best evidence of this.

"Now, more than ever before, is the time for our fans everywhere to stand up and be counted."

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