Former prime minister and political prisoner Yulia Tymoshenko
continues to lead the polls for Ukraine’s presidential elections, which are
scheduled for March 2019. Tymoshenko enjoys 18.7% support, followed by 15.6%
for Ukrainian President Poroshenko, 11.7% for the Russian-oriented MP Yuriy
Boyko, 9.7% for former Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko, 8.7% for populist
Oleh Liashko, and 8.3% for Russian-oriented media mogul Vadim Rabinovich. In a
second-round runoff, 30% of respondents said they would vote for Tymoshenko,
compared to 23% for Poroshenko. The poll of 30,000 respondents was conducted by
the Rating Sociological Group between Dec. 12 and 28.
Zenon Zawada:
Tymoshenko’s poll numbers are surprisingly improving, despite her lack of
accomplishments recently and limited media appearances. We can only interpret
this as voters supporting Tymoshenko mainly to express their dissatisfaction
with Poroshenko and to prevent his re-election. We still believe Poroshenko has
time to shore up his popular support, but the tide against him has worsened.