Poroshenko top Ukraine presidential contender, leading polling firms report

Confectionary magnate Petro Poroshenko has pulled significantly ahead of his competitors as the leading presidential candidate for the May 25 vote, according to a poll released on March 26 that was conducted by Ukraine’s leading polling agencies: the Razumkov Center, Sotsis, KMIS and the Reytynh agency.

Almost 25 percent of those polled are ready to cast their ballot for Poroshenko, compared to nine percent for boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and eight percent for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Nearly 84 percent of those polled said they will participate in the election. The polling firms questioned 6,200 respondents between March 14 and 19.

Zenon Zawada: Poroshenko is popular not only because of his active support of the EuroMaidan protest movement, which was also supported by Klitschko and Tymoshenko. Poroshenko is viewed as a capable manager, having built Ukraine’s largest confectionary business and led the supervisory board of the National Bank of Ukraine for many years. He is also a capable diplomat, having secured for the Yanukovych administration the initialization of the agreement on the EU Free Trade Area in July 2012. Equally important, he is a non-polarizing figure who traces his roots to the Odesa Oblast. He is capable of building a wide coalition of support to unite all regions of Ukraine.