Tymoshenko, Zelenskyi, Poroshenko, Boiko, Hrytsenko, - survey reveals top presidential candidates

According to a survey conducted by Rating Sociological Group, Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko tops the field among possible presidential candidates nationally and in virtually each Ukrainian region with 20.8 percent of votes from those pollees who have made a decision and who are going to cast votes for their candidate.

The poll found that  some 13.4 percent of those polled are ready to vote for showman and Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) Party leader Volodymyr Zelenskyi, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko will be backed by 11.1 percent of voters, Opposition Platform – Za Zhyttia (For Life) leader Yurii Boiko by 9.6 percent, Hromadska Pozytsia (Civil Position) Party leader Anatolii Hrytsenko by 7.8 percent, Radical Party leader Oleh Liashko by 6.6 percent and musician Sviatoslav Vakarchuk by 4.6 percent, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

Nashy (Ours) Party leader Yevhen Muraiev would enjoy 4.5 percent of votes, and non-affiliated MP Oleksandr Shevchenko 4.2 percent. The rating of other candidates is lower than 3 percent. However, almost a third of the pollees are either undecided who to vote for or are not going to vote at all.

Tymoshenko leads in virtually all Ukrainian regions, except Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, where Boiko is more popular. In Lviv region, Poroshenko and Hrytsenko are in the lead, member of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Shevchenko tops the list in Ivano-Frankivsk region and Zelenskyi in Mykolaiv region.

According to the survey, the most unpopular possible presidential candidate nationwide is Poroshenko, with 50.3 percent of those polled saying they would not vote for him. Poroshenko is the most disliked presidential candidate in all Ukrainian regions possible except the Lviv region, where Boiko tops the list. Some 21 percent of the respondents believe that Tymoshenko will win the presidential race.

Read more: Sluha Narodu Party goes into politics, presidential candidate Zelenskyi says

Over the past year, the number of those who are convinced of her victory has doubled. Some 12.8 percent of those polled are sure of Poroshenko's victory, which is slightly less than in the previous year (15 percent). The victory of Zelenskyi is predicted by about 5 percent, that of Boiko by 3.5 percent, Liashko by 2.2 percent, Hrytsenko by 2.1 percent. Less than 2 percent of respondents believe in the positive result of others. According to this indicator, Tymoshenko leads in all regions, with the exception of the Lviv region, where Poroshenko is seen as the winner of the presidential vote.

At the same time, the simulation of the runoff election gave the following results: Tymoshenko confidently wins in pairs with Poroshenko (29 percent against 15 percent) and Boiko (29 percent against 16 percent). She also has a good result in a pair with Hrytsenko (26 percent against 21 percent) and almost equal positions in a pair with Zelenskyi (25 percent versus 26 percent).

Among those who intend to vote in the first round, the results are as follows: Tymoshenko also confidently leads in pairs with Poroshenko and Boiko (34 percent against 18 percent), has an advantage in a pair with Hrytsenko (30 percent against 25 percent) and a slight advantage over Zelenskyi (30 percent against 29 percent).

In a regional context, Tymoshenko leads in all regions without exception in the second round of the elections if Poroshenko is there. If Boiko manages to get into the runoff elections, Batkivshchyna's leader is inferior to the latter in Donbas and Kharkiv region. If Hrytsenko enters the second round, Tymoshenko beats him in Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky and Cherkasy regions. Zelenskyi is ahead of Tymoshenko in the second round in most regions of the country's east and south, at the same time inferior to her in most regions of western and central Ukraine.

Read more: Poll ahead of forthcoming presidential race shows Tymoshenko, Zelenskyi, Poroshenko, Liashko, Boiko as top candidates

Batkivshchyna is leading in the rating of parties. It is supported by 21.7 percent of those who have decided on the choice of the party and intend to vote in parliamentary elections. Some 12.4 percent of those polled are ready to vote for the Servant of the People Party, 9.6 percent for the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, 9.5 percent for the Opposition Bloc, 7.8 percent for the Civil Position Party, 6.5 percent for the Radical Party, 4.6 percent for the UKROP Party, 4.2 percent for the Ours Party, and 4 percent for the Samopomich Party. Rating of other parties is less than 4 percent. At the same time, more than a third of the respondents did not decide on the choice of the party or are not going to vote at all.

The survey was conducted from Nov. 16 through Dec. 10, 2018 among Ukrainians aged 18 and older in all regions of the country, except Russia-occupied Crimea and Donbas. Some 40,000 respondents took part, about 1,600 from every region. The margin of error of the survey is not more than 2.4 percent at the regional level and not more than 0.5 percent at the national level.