Foulkes says Romanov may have to write off debt

FORMER Hearts chairman George Foulkes believes that Vladimir Romanov will only be able to sell the club if he writes off part of the crippling debt.

Lithuanian banker Romanov has revealed he is considering finding a partner or selling the Tynecastle side after losing his love for football.

Lord Foulkes was appointed to the board in April 2004 with the remit of finding a buyer for Hearts. And he says Romanov was the only person interested in becoming the principle shareholder in a company that was already £19.1 million in the red and on the verge of selling the stadium to eradicate its debts.

Hearts are yet to publish their financial results, which will include last November’s £10 million debt-for-equity deal, for the year ending July 2011 but their arrears are estimated to be somewhere between £25 and £35 million. And Foulkes says the owner will have to take a big financial hit if he is to make the club an attractive proposition again.

Foulkes said: “What is needed is some kind of package or arrangement that means a potential purchaser is not encumbered by the huge burden of debt. That debt is owed to Ukio Bankas so Mr Romanov has a substantial say over how it’s dealt with.

“I would think he certainly will not give the club away for nothing, although everyone would be put off if he expected the whole debt to be covered and for him to get some sort of return on his investment. We need something in between, some kind of bargain to be struck. But I don’t think there will be lots of people rushing to make an offer in the near future.”

Foulkes insists the board had no option but to accept Romanov’s proposal in 2004 when the club was on the brink of selling Tynecastle to Cala Homes for £20.5 million and becoming tenants at Murrayfield.

He added: “Over the last six years we have seen the true potential of Hearts, which is much greater than some imagined. Any potential purchaser would be seeing something more attractive than what was there six years ago. However, the cautionary note, and it’s a very strong cautionary note, is that, when we tried to find a purchaser before Romanov, we scoured the business centres of the world, particularly London and Edinburgh. In the end, Romanov was the only person willing to buy the shares and take over the responsibility of the debt and who ultimately kept us at Tynecastle.

“For all his ups and downs, his statements and authoritarian manner, he has kept the club going and Hearts have effectively been the third club in Scottish football for those years. That’s something we should be grateful for. I don’t think we should expect someone to come riding in on a white charger with bags of money to purchase the club though.”