Familiar tale as Romanov's Belarus club in wages row

Published on Thursday 11 December 2008 21:51

FURTHER evidence of the financial troubles facing Vladimir Romanov's Ukio Bankas Investment Group has emanated from the unlikely source of Vycheslav Hleb.

The Belarusian forward, currently playing for MTZ-Ripo in his homeland, has revealed that some staff at the club have not been paid for six months. Ripo, along with FBK Kaunas in Lithuania, receive the vast majority of their income from Romanov's companies.

Such news will be worryingly familiar for followers and employees of Hearts. The Tynecastle outfit, who have Ubig as their parent company, have twice failed to pay players on time this season. High earners at the Gorgie club also recently had to defer weekly salary payments amid concerns over Ubig's cash flow. Such matters, it would seem, are impacting across Romanov's stable.

"The financial crisis is a simply awful thing," said Hleb to Belarusian website Esport.by. "Some guys have families, children, and they are not given their pay.

"What could be said about the medical personnel and people who are working for the team? They haven't seen money for half a year. It must be the influence of the financial crisis. But so, measures must be taken."

Hleb, ironically, has frequently been linked with a move to Hearts. The 25-year-old, whose brother Alexander currently plays for Barcelona following a successful spell at Arsenal, trained in Edinburgh in 2006 but no permanent move was forthcoming.

Alexander criticised Romanov earlier this year, saying: "I don't understand Mr Romanov. My brother plays for his team but he wants to leave and Romanov won't let him. He wants big money for him and I don't understand it."

Such frustrations are apparently still prominent with Vycheslav, who has made it clear he wants a transfer from Ripo. "The greatest mistake is that I have returned to Belarus at all," he said, before aiming what could be interpreted as a veiled criticism at Romanov. "I tried to leave every year, but I didn't succeed. Something or somebody impeded me in that.

"I talked to the leadership of the club, and we have come to a decision that they are not interested in my services any more. And I do not have a wish to stay either.

"There are no concrete plans. I would like to join a team which is fighting for something and challenging.

"It is a decided question that I'm leaving Belarus.

"The main thing is for the leadership of MTZ-Ripo to think not only about their interests, but about interests of a player as well."

The latest test of whether UBIG are willing, or able, to pay Hearts' players their weekly wage arrives today, when salaries for the past seven days are due to hit their bank accounts

There was at least some good news for Ukio Bankas yesterday, though, after posting 21.8 million profits in their latest results.

For the first 11 months of 2008, the Lithuanian company's gains have improved by 21.3 per cent during the same trading period last year. In October, the bank enjoyed nine-month profits of 20million, an increase of 36 per cent on 2007.

Ukio Bankas is also celebrating being named Fastest Growing Company of the Year in an awards ceremony organised by the Lithuanian Business Employers' Confederation.