Romanov's management of the club's debt became a cause for concern. During his takeover Romanov pledged to eradicate the club's debt. Soon after the takeover was completed, the debt was transferred from HBOS and SMG to the financial institutions controlled by Romanov, Ūkio bankas and UBIG. At the end of July 2007 the club were £36M in debt. On 7 July 2008, Hearts issued a statement that stated the club would issue debt for equity to reduce the debt by £12M. A further issue was completed in 2010. Since the takeover Hearts had failed to pay players wages on time on several occasions, and were threatened with administration twice due to failure to pay an outstanding tax bills with the bill finally being settled in August 2011. Results released for the financial year ending 31 July 2010 showed that Hearts had made a small profit for the first time since 1999, although they were still heavily in debt.