Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's popularity ratings have been on the upturn in recent months, while the rating of the Front for Change leader, Arseniy Yatseniuk, has dropped by more than 30%, the SOCIS pollster reported after a poll, conducted from September 20 to October 1.
Yanukovych would be supported by 28.7% of those polled (up 0.9%
against July) and Tymoshenko by 19.0% (up 2.1%) according the poll.
Yatseniuk would muster 8.2% of the votes, down 4.9% against July,
Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko 3.6%, Rada Speaker Volodymyr
Lytvyn 2.9%, President Viktor Yuschenko 2.8%, banker Sergiy Tigipko
2.6%, and leader of the Freedom Association Oleh Tiahnyboka 1%.
In a hypothetical second round the Yanukovych-Tymoshenko margin would narrow to 40.3%-to-32.6%, respectively.
The prime minister would lead in 16 western and central regions and
in Kyiv, and the Party of Regions leader in eight eastern regions, in
Crimea and Sevastopol.
The poll was conducted in all regions on order from the Ukrainian
Foundation for Supporting Reform. In all, 5,009 respondents were
questioned.
