Vladimir Romanov - Life Outside Football

Life Outside Football

Romanov spent his early childhood in Tver Oblast, before moving with his family to Lithuania at the age of nine. His father had served in the Red Army and fought in the Battle of Berlin, but died when Romanov was just 16. This meant that Romanov was forced to support the rest of the family, which he did by driving a taxi and selling Western popular music, including bootleg copies of records by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones. He then served in the Soviet Navy for six years, including time aboard the K19 submarine. Romanov later bought the submarine, and invited his fellow crew members to the 2006 Scottish Cup Final.

Even before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Romanov had started to make money during the late 1980s through manufacturing. His wealth greatly increased during the early 1990s after state enterprises were sold off to the highest bidder. Romanov was amongst those who founded Ūkio bankas, which was the first private bank to be founded in Lithuania. Romanov still has a substantial stake in the bank. Through his private investment group UBIG, Romanov has business interests including aluminium, textiles, property and television. These activities are carried out in Lithuania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Russia and Serbia. His wealth has been variously estimated at £260M, £300M, and £200M in the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List.

In 2007 Romanov won a Lithuanian version of Dancing with the Stars, which is the equivalent of the British show Strictly Come Dancing. He was paired with professional dance partner Sandra Kniazevičiūtė. Romanov gave the prize money he won from winning the contest to Kniazevičiūtė. Due to the purported lack of artistry in his dance moves and alleged forgery of voting results, Romanov was called Buratino (Lithuanian: Buratinas) by the show host Arūnas Valinskas, a nickname he is now being referred to by his critics in Lithuania.