VLAD BANK'S PROFITS SOAR

HEARTS fans were last night warned not to expect owner Vladimir Romanov to spend any of his bank's soaring profits on new players.

Romanov is rolling in cash after his Ukio Bankas trebled profits in the first nine months of the year.

The unaudited pre-tax figure of £5.7million is around three times more than they made in the same period in 2005.

Romanov, who has the largest shareholding in Hearts, is also the principle stakeholder in Ukio Bankas with 33 per cent of the stock.

But sources close to Romanov insist the bank's profits do not necessarily mean a bigger war chest for head coach Valdas Ivanauskas in the January transfer window.

Release of more cash to get the club's season back on track would be an enormous boost for the club's fans. Romanov plans to open a branch of Ukio Bankas in Edinburgh early next year and is hoping Hearts fans will make it a success.

He said recently: "My dream is to see Hearts fans as Ukio Bankas customers.

"I want them to check out my abilities as a businessman and a banker and to show them how reliable I am.

"We are thinking about some special programmes to attract Hearts fans to the bank in the future."

But Romanov's popularity among the supporters in the past few weeks has been at an all-time low.

The unprecedented break for Ivanauskas due to stress and a plot to oust Steven Pressley as club captain have confused fans about the club's future.

But Ivanauskas' reinstatement as head coach on Monday, following Eduard Malofeev's fruitless stint in charge has given Romanov some breathing space.

Taken from the Daily Record