Poroshenko ahead of Klitschko in election polls

Interfax-Ukraine: Independent MP Petro Poroshenko would gain the most votes from the Ukrainian electorate if the presidential elections were to be conducted at the beginning of March, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from February 28 to March 3 for a commercial client. The number of those surveyed was 1,022 people. Second in the poll came UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko, and third was Batkivschyna all-Ukrainian union leader and ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko. The poll offered 13 possible lists of candidates to respondents. There was one different candidate in each list. The number of votes for Poroshenko fluctuated within 19.8-20.6%, for Klitschko – within 11.7%-12.5% and for Tymoshenko – within 8.4-9.1%. Every list included Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Vitali Klitschko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Petro Poroshenko, Petro Symonenko, Yulia Tymoshenko and Oleh Tiahnybok. Also, every list had one of the following political figures: Sergiy Tigipko, Oleksandr Vilkul, Mykhailo Dobkin, Rinat Akhmetov, Nestor Shufrych, Mykola Azarov, Dmytro Tabachnyk, Hanna Herman, Yuriy Boiko, Raisa Bohatyriova, Volodymyr Rybak, Iryna Akimova and Oleksandr Yefremov. According to the results of the poll, if Tigipko participated in the elections, 19.8% of the respondents would vote for Poroshenko, 12.1% – for Klitschko, 8.4% – for Tymoshenko, 8% – for Tigipko, 5% – for Symonenko, 4.6% – for Hrytsenko, 1.7% – for Tiahnybok and 0.7% – for Medvedchuk. Besides, 17.6% wouldn't support any candidate. Under the condition of Vilkul participating in the elections, 20.2% of the respondents would vote for Poroshenko, 12.2% – for Klitschko, 8.6% – for Tymoshenko, 6.1% – for Symonenko, 4.4% – for Hrytsenko, 2.2% – for Tiahnybok, 0.9% – for Medvedchuk and 0.5% – for Vilkul; 21.5% wouldn't support any candidate. If Dobkin participates in the elections the results will be as follows: 20.5% – Poroshenko, 11.7% – for Klitschko, 8.8% – for Tymoshenko, 5.4% – for Symonenko, 4.2% – for Hrytsenko, 3.6% – for Dobkin, 2.2% – for Tiahnybok, and 0.8% – for Medvedchuk; 19.8% wouldn't support any candidate. Under the condition of Akhmetov participating in the elections, 20.5% of the respondents would vote for Poroshenko, 11.8% – for Klitschko, 8.8% – for Tymoshenko, 5.8% – for Symonenko, 4.3% – for Hrytsenko, 3.4% – for Akhmetov, 2% – for Tiahnybok, and 1% – for Medvedchuk; 19.3% wouldn't support any candidate. If Azarov participates in the elections the results will be following: 20.4% – Poroshenko, 12.4% – for Klitschko, 8.4% – for Tymoshenko, 5.7% – for Symonenko, 4.2% – for Hrytsenko, 2.4% – for Azarov, 2% – for Tiahnybok, and 1% – for Medvedchuk; 20.4% wouldn't support any candidate. Ultimately the relative rating of 'experimental' candidates is as follows: first place is held by Tigipko (8%), the second place is shared by Dobkin (3.6%), Akhmetov (3.4%) and Yefremov (3.1%), third place – Shufrych (2.5%) and Azarov (2.4%). The rest are Herman (1.8%), Rybak (1.7%), Boiko (1.2%), Akimova (1%), Bohatyriova (0.7%), Tabachnyk (0.6%) and Vilkul (0.5%). The poll was conducted from February 28 to March 3. A total of 1,022 respondents, who are over 18 years old and live in all the regions of Ukraine (including Kyiv) and Crimea, were surveyed in a face-to-face interview. The presidential elections in Ukraine were scheduled for May 25, 2014. The election campaign started on February 25. It will last 90 days.