Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov refuses to apologise for abandoning Tynecastle club

Norman Silvester

30 Jun 2013 00:01

AFTER being tracked down by the Sunday Mail, the Lithuanian tycoon shrugged of responsibility for Hearts' state of crisis, and said he didn't want to talk about the club.

ELUSIVE Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov yesterday refused to apologise for abandoning the crisis-hit club.

In his first public statement since the club were placed in administration, the 67-year-old claimed the crisis at Tynecastle was nothing to do with him.

After being tracked down by the Sunday Mail, Romanov said: “They have a new director. I’m far away from Edinburgh. What do I have in common with this?”

The future of the Edinburgh side is in doubt after they went into administration with debts of £25million.

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Romanov, who is suspected of embezzling £12.5million after the collapse of a bank he owns in his native Lithuania.

The last news of him was in May after he suffered a stroke and was treated in hospital in Moscow.

Last week, the Sunday Mail managed to contract Romanov by phone. He would not say where he was.

We asked if he is sorry for what has happened at Hearts during his eight-year ownership and if he accepted any blame for the club’s difficulties. But after giving his curt reply, he hung up.

When we phoned him back to ask again what he thinks about Hearts’ situation, Romanov repeated several times: “Can you understand me? I don’t want to communicate. I don’t want to talk.”

Our Lithuanian reporter Salunas Balota, who spoke to Romanov in Russian, said: “His voice was not happy at all. He sounded as if he was tired. He certainly talked without his usual arrogance.”

Yesterday, Romanov’s luxury home in Kaunas, Lithuania, lay empty.

Romanov's Lithuanian home Romanov's Lithuanian home

The £1million three-storey white house is in the exclusive Zaliakalnis district a few minutes from the centre of Kaunas.

Last week, there was no answer at the house he shares with his wife. But two top-of-the-range Mercedes were parked in the driveway.

Security staff who are normally on patrol to deter unwanted visitors were also absent.

A young man who lived nearby told us he hadn’t seen his neighbour for a long time.

He added: “I think I saw him a few months ago. Now, I see only a gardener working in the yard.”

Romanov was told in April by the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service that he was to be investigated on the Ukio Bankas embezzlement allegation.

He was due to meet prosecutors in the capital, Vilnius, on May 2 to discuss the allegations but failed to turn up.

His lawyers said Romanov had suffered a stroke and was too ill to attend.

His non-appearance could lead to the Lithuanian authorities issuing an international arrest warrant.

It has also been claimed that Romanov is under the protection of bodyguards connected to former warlord and now Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov.

He is said to have sought protection after Russian gangsters lost millions of pounds when Ukio Bankas went bust.

The FBI found links to Ukio Bankas while investigating money laundering.

Romanov became the majority shareholder in Hearts in 2005. He put the Tynecastle club up for sale 18 months ago.

Ukio Bankas are owed £15million by Hearts. Another bust Romanov firm, UBIG, are owed £10million.

Romanov has been in denial about Hearts’ debts for some time. When the Sunday Mail tracked him down in Lithuania in November, he said reports about the side’s financial problems were all llies.

Administrators have set a date of July 12 for interested parties to submit bids for the club. It is thought there are at least three
potential bidders, including fans’ group the Foundation of Hearts.

Shirt sponsors Wonga advanced part of next season’s sponsorship money, thought to be around £90,000, to help out the club.

Hearts need to raise around £800,000 through the sale of 3000 extra season tickets to see their way through to the start of the
new season. More than 1500 season tickets have been sold so far. The side will start next season with a 15-point penalty.

Taken from the Daily Record