THE OFFICIAL: "LET'S ALL LAUGH AT HEARTS"

[Kowalski]

A tweet from the BBC's Douglas Fraser:

 

"Hearts' ground, Tynecastle, may have to be sold as Ukio, its Lithuanian owner's bank, is wound up, local Bloomberg reporter tells @bbcgms"

[Tyrant]

Don't tease me.

[CtS]

Andy Driver gone all of a sudden, now news of Ground possibly being sold, desperate times.

 

 

lol

[mizer]

A CONSORTIUM believed to be frontrunners to ­take over Hearts has slipped down the pecking order after irking the club’s Lithuanian owners, it has been claimed.

 

?The move came as Lithuanian administrators said today Vladimir Romanov’s troubled Ukio Bankas would be sold within the week.

 

The fan-led Foundation of Hearts (FOH) is understood to have last held formal talks with Tynecastle chiefs in October, with a club source now saying the group had “marginalised themselves”.

 

It is thought an “opportunistic” £450,000 takeover offer made during Hearts tax battle with HMRC over unpaid VAT and PAYE may have tarnished the consortium’s perceived credibility.

 

An insider said today: “It doesn’t look like the foundation is the future for Hearts” while a source close to take-over talks said the foundation – led by city businessman Alex Mackie – were “not serious contenders anymore”.

 

But sources at Foundation of Hearts – which is backed by two of the club’s largest fans groups – say it is still in the running and confirmed rumoured talks with Norwegian investors will be held later this week.

 

It comes on the day Hearts released a statement pledging to work with Supporters Direct Scotland (SDS), a government-funded body lobbying to transfer control of football clubs to their fanbase, to thrash out a blueprint for fan ownership.

 

An FOH spokesman welcomed the development, hailing it a “positive move”.

 

He added: “Others might think we aren’t serious but we certainly are.

 

“We back fan ownership and we have never moved from the position. I think we are in good shape and are probably more positive today than we have been.”

 

Meanwhile, crunch talks between SDS and Hearts ?director Sergejus Fedotovas took place to explore whether a credible fans’ takeover would still be considered in the wake of reported interest. Mr Fedotovas said in a statement: “We have a responsibility to protect the business and ensure that we give Hearts the best prospects for the future, even once the club has been sold.

 

“Our aim is to secure a solid and stable future for the club and we do believe that the supporters should play an integral part in this process. Paul Goodwin, head of SDS, said: “The meeting with Sergejus Fedotovas was productive and we agreed that the community ownership model was still an option that would be considered alongside any other offers that the club might attract.

 

“With that in mind we agreed to embark on a series of planning meetings over the coming weeks.”

 

Continued uncertainty over the club’s future comes after Lithuanian central bankers said today Ukio, in which Romanov has a 64.9 per cent stake, is to be sold to rival Siauliu Bankas AB. The news came after LithuaBank of Lithuania executives insisted the sale would be the least costly and speediest way of resolving problems.

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Hearts' fragile financial position could be exacerbated by a £6.8m floating charge against the club as the fall-out from the Ukio Bankas collapse continues.

 

The charge, which is used to secure Tynecastle against debts, is now thought to be under the control of the Lithuanian authorities having initially been transferred from the club's parent company, UBIG, to owner Vladimir Romanov's bank last year.

 

With Ukio being recognised as insolvent, the country's central bank – the Bank of Lithuania – has appointed temporary administrator Adomas Audickas to oversee the transfer of the fallen bank's assets and liabilities to Siauliu Bankas.

 

While admitting Ukio Bankas does provide Hearts with "some banking services and debt facility" – they owe UBIG £22.4m according to the last set of accounts – club director Sergejus Fedotovas said last week that events in his homeland would have little impact on the "day-to-day business" at the club. But the bank that assumes control of the floating charge would have the power to call in the £6.8m debt at any time.

 

Neil Patey, a football finance expert at Ernst and Young, said: "The bulk of the debt is with UBIG, which is not in trouble, but we understand there are some banking and debt facilities provided by Ukio. My understanding is the security for Tynecastle was transferred from UBIG to Ukio. From what I understand, the assets and liabilities for Hearts will be transferred to another bank.

 

"I would think it is unlikely the new bank will call in an immediate repayment for the amount due from Hearts, but there is certainly the possibility that they could enter into discussions and may take a more stringent view than Ukio did in terms of wanting that debt repaid."

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HEARTS have received a reduced payment of £400,000 from Rangers as the final instalment of Lee Wallace’s transfer to Ibrox.

 

The deal was agreed earlier this month between the clubs, with Rangers shaving £100,000 off the £500,000 they had been due to pay in June.

Wallace joined the Glasgow club in a £1.5million move in August 2011 and, despite the oldco Rangers being liquidated, the newco has been settling its debts to other teams.

Hearts accepted an earlier but lesser payment to ease their financial concerns, with manager John McGlynn admitting that he and the coaching staff remain in the dark about the exact ?economic state of the club.

[Andrew]

I hope Hearts make it through all this for the good of Scottish football. I feel Rangers are a disgusting horrible club but with Hearts I feel, with the exception of a few, their fans are the same as ours and I would not like to see them go bust and I'd like to think that feeling was replicated with them to us.

[tlg1903]

hearts?  really?

 

scummy  club

 

scummy  fans

 

  in the immortal words of  Michael  Palin, “nail em  up I  say,  nail some sense into em"

[manc_don]

Fuck hearts.

[maverick sheep]

hearts are not far behind celtic in terms of sheer scummyness. don't let old/new rangers being runaway winners of that contest cloud your judgement. the world would be a better place without all three clubs.

[Leftside]

Manager sacked today, got less than a year with a shrinking budget.

Wonder how they would have got on over the past view years if Mad Vlad had ever allowed a bit of stabilty?

[Tyrant]

I can't help but wonder how they would have done if they hadn't sacked Burley whilst they were top of the league.

[mizer]

Tick tock

 

The entire board of directors of Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe, a Lithuanian company that owns Scotland’s Heart of Midlothian soccer club, resigned last week, Baltic News Service reported.

Vladimir Romanov, who was majority owner of lender Ukio Bankas (UKB1L) AB, which Lithuania’s central bank declared insolvent last month, resigned as chairman of the board of UBIG on Feb. 27, the newswire said, citing the company registry in Vilnius.

Hearts’ Director Sergejus Fedotovas also resigned from the board of UBIG, as did Rita Matuziene, BNS reported.

A new board will be elected at the next meeting of shareholders of UBIG, the date for which hasn’t been fixed, according to Matuziene, who said she remains in her post as chief executive officer at UBIG, according to BNS.

[Madbadteacher]

B U M P

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21997929

 

Ooooopsies

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B U M P

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21997929

 

Ooooopsies

 

I bet he has plenty of money squirrelled away.

[Tyrant]

I ken it's a shite "source" but the Sun says Hearts are on the verge of administration due to a £25m debt. Nothing new but here's hoping. 

[Stewart]

I ken it's a shite "source" but the Sun says Hearts are on the verge of administration due to a £25m debt. Nothing new but here's hoping. 

 

 

Aye and if true possible relegation this weekend.

[mizer]

Ukio Bankas were given protection and up to today to sort out as best they could the finances. Tomorrow the £15m debt hearts owe to the bank could be called in. We may hear a mayday from Tynecastle tomorrow.

[tom_widdows]

exactly how many points are they likely to lose should they go into administration?

 

 

Dunfermline got 10 but im sure I read somewhere in the spl its a % of your total points from the previous season?

[mizer]

exactly how many points are they likely to lose should they go into administration?

 

 

Dunfermline got 10 but im sure I read somewhere in the spl its a % of your total points from the previous season?

 

12 I think which would leave then 1 point above Dundee

[Stewart]

12 I think which would leave then 1 point above Dundee

 

 

I think Tom is right about the percentage which would be 17 as I assume they'd round down.

[Jute]

 

I think Tom is right about the percentage which would be 17 as I assume they'd round down.

 

It is 17 points. After the death of Rangers the rules were changed to the points deduction being a third of the previous seasons point total for any club going into administration.

[mizer]

[pre]Šiauliai, Lithuania, 2013-05-02 16:17 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

 

At 03:40 p.m. on May 2, 2013 Šiauliu bankas AB, Ukio bankas AB represented by the temporary administrator and the State undertaking „

Deposit and Investment Insurance“ signed the Closing Deed under the Agreement on transfer of the assets and liabilities Ukio bankas AB concluded

by the parties on February 23, 2013. This Closing Deed has completed the transfer of the assets and liabilities of Ukio bankas AB to Šiauliu bankas AB

in compliance with the mentioned Agreement.

 

Chief Executive Officer      Audrius Žiugžda[/pre]

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http://www.sb.lt/en/about_bank/announcements/1/2606?durl=7b2e9bce142b2a0de343f246ed306e00

 

Information to the former clients of ?kio bankas regarding the administration of their accounts

 

Šiauli? bankas has already informed that the typical service fees are changing -  ?kio  bankas' fees stop being valid to the former ?kio bankas' clients on 5 May 2013 and since 6 May the typical service fees of Šiauli? bankas shall come into force (not applicable to the fees charged for the investment services).

 

In case of any questions regarding the transfer of accounts of the former ?kio bankas' clients, please be informed that this process is being carried out gradually and the bank shall inform You regarding the final transfer with a separate  announcement.

 

The mentioned accounts could be temporary used, however, we would like to pay your attention, that after implementing the transfer of accounts they will be closed. If the client does not open a new account his funds will be automatically transferred to the account opened with Šiauli? bankas.

 

The numbers of bank accounts of the former ?kio bankas will not remain, however, they will be subject to the transitional period, during which the funds transferred to the old number will be accepted to the new account.

 

In case of any questions, please do no hesitate to contact us by the telephone:  + 370 700 55 055.

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Happy Albert Kidd Day! 03/05/1986