You're reading: Aides to Yanukovych, Tymoshenko predict victory on Feb. 7

Top aides to both Victor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko predicted victory in the Feb. 7 runoff vote for president between the two candidates.

Ukraine’s next president after a second round of voting is likely to be Prime Minister Tymoshenko, a close ally of hers said on Sunday.

Exit polls after the first round of voting showed Tymoshenko between 4-10 percent behind opposition leader Yanukovich in the first round of voting for a new president in the former Soviet republic.

"The main conclusion (from the exit poll results) — is that despite the small victory of our opponent in the first round, our next president will be Yulia Tymoshenko…," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksander Turchynov said.

Meanwhile, a close ally of Ukrainian opposition leader Yanukovich said that, on the basis of exit polls following Sunday’s election, he had a "100 per cent" chance of victory.

"The chances for victory for our candidate Viktor Yanukovich in the second round are 100 per cent. For them, for (Prime Minister Yulia) Tymoshenko, there are no chances at all," Mykola Azarov, a former finance minister, told journalists.

Two exit polls showed Yanukovich, a former prime minister, led Tymoshenko in Sunday’s presidential poll by between 4 and 10 per cent. The run-off vote is set for Feb. 7.