Regions Party leader Victor Yanukovych leads incumbent Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a hypothetical second round matchup of the Ukrainian presidential election by a margin of 12.3%, according to a survey carried out by the SOCIS Center for Social and Marketing Research.
The results of the survey were presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Dec. 29. A representative survey of 10,000 respondents aged over 18 from all Ukrainian provinces was conducted on Dec. 9-24.
According to the poll, 30.1% of respondents would have supported Yanukovych in the first round of the election and 16.7% would have voted for Tymoshenko.
Some 7.2% of those polled would have backed well-known banker Sergiy Tigipko, 5.0% – Front for Change leader Arseniy Yatseniuk, 4.0% – incumbent President Viktor Yuschenko, 3.1% Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, and 2.7% Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn.
In a hypothetical second round of the presidential election (to be held on Feb. 7), 42.2% said they plan to support Yanukovych, and 29.9% Tymoshenko, while 13.4% would have voted against both candidates, 4.4% are not planning to vote during the run-off, and 10.1% were undecided on their political sympathies.
Among those undecided (2,349 respondents), 12.2% said they are more inclined to support Yanukovych, and 14.1% are more inclined to support Tymoshenko.
