Yuliya Tymoshenko, the leader of the All-Ukrainian Union Batkivschyna (Fatherland), has been on the top of presidential ratings in opinion polls, followed by President Petro Poroshenko and showman Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the results of a recent poll conducted by Sociological Group Rating from September to October 2018, 17% of the people polled who said they had made their choice and were willing to go to vote said they have decided to vote for Tymoshenko as president. Poroshenko and Zelensky are supported by 10% of those polled each.
Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the leader of the Civil Position party, got 9% of the vote, Yuriy Boyko of the Opposition Platform — For Life received 8%, and Vadym Rabinovich of the same platform got 5%.
Some 5% of those polled said they would vote for Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party, another 4% supported the singer and civil activist Sviatoslav Vakarchuk.
Among all the people polled, Tymoshenko received support from 14% of the people, Poroshenko and Zelensky got 8% each, and Hrytsenko received 7%.
The poll entitled “The Dynamics of Socio-Political Views in Ukraine” was conducted from September 28 to October 14, 2018, by Sociological Group Rating by order of the International Republican Institute (IRI.)
A total of 2,400 people aged 18 and above were polled across Ukraine in formal face-to-face interviews. The non-sampling error is no more than 2%.
Some 72% of Ukrainians are ready to support a woman candidate in the presidential elections if the party they trust nominated her as a presidential candidate, according to a study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted in October-November 2018. Only 36% of respondents expressed readiness to support a Jewish candidate, and 26% said they would vote for a dark-skinned candidate.
“Compared to 2011, when we first conducted such a survey, the support of women and Jews remained almost unchanged, while more people, from 18% to 26%, said they would support a dark-skinned candidate, KIIS said.
The study was similar to that conducted by Gallup in the United States since 1937. At the same time, the report notes that in 2015, for each of these three questions (about women, Jews and blacks), more than 90% of Americans (92%, 91% and 92%, respectively) said they were ready to vote for them.
However, previously these figures were lower in the United States. “Attitudes of Americans towards women candidates increased as a whole. Ukrainian data correspond to American data from the early 1970s,” KIIS said.
Ukrainian attitudes towards candidates of Jewish nationality and blacks are significantly lower than they were in the United States for the entire observation period. In particular, in 1937 only 46% of Americans responded positively to a question about Jewish candidates, and 37% of respondents answered positively to a question about dark-skinned candidates in 1958, when it was asked in interviews.
The all-Ukrainian public opinion poll of KIIS was conducted from October 26 to November 8, 2018. Some 2,044 people living in 110 settlements throughout Ukraine were questioned in a personal interview. The margin of error of the poll does not exceed 3.3%.
President of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Peter Chernyshov, is reportedly resigning, an informed source in the Ukrainian telecoms market has told Interfax-Ukraine. According to information sent by the company to the Agency for the Development of the Stock Market Infrastructure, Chernyshov was re-elected as president of Kyivstar from July 14, 2017 to July 13, 2018.
Previously, Chernyshov had already informed journalists that his contract was expiring, but he did not comment on further plans.
Chairperson of the Ukrainian Telecommunications Chamber Tetiana Popova notes that the end of Chernyshov’s contract with Kyivstar does not necessarily mean that he is leaving the VEON group.
“He is not only president of Kyivstar, but he is also responsible for a number of other regions of the holding. Perhaps, we will see the division of the posts, “she noted.
According to information available to Interfax-Ukraine, CEO at Beeline Kazakhstan Alexander Komarov could be appointed to replace Chernyshov.
As reported, Chernyshov was appointed president of Kyivstar in June 2014 instead of the founder and permanent leader Ihor Lytovchenko. Previously, he had headed Carlsberg in Ukraine.
Amsterdam-headquartered VEON (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a shareholder of Kyivstar.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will pay a working visit to Turkey on Tuesday, June 12, to participate in the ceremony to launch the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP). According to the press service of the head of state, Poroshenko is making the visit at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The program of the visit foresees a number of bilateral meetings between the Ukrainian president and the leaders of foreign countries.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko within the framework of the National Investment Council has met with President of Turkey’s Turkcell company Ahmet Akca and discussed the prospects of supporting the program of rural medicine.
“The interlocutors discussed the prospects of involving this company in the program of support for rural medicine in Ukraine, in particular taking into account its extensive experience in providing similar technical equipment in medicine, education, etc.,” reads a report on the presidential website.
The president of Ukraine noted that in accordance with his agreements with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukraine and Turkey had significantly increased their cooperation, especially in the economic sphere.
The parties are also finishing preparations to the meeting of the Strategic Council of the two countries, which should take into account the issues of cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey in the security, military-technical sphere, road construction and telecommunications, including the use of the Turkcell potential.
The president noted a “very responsible attitude towards doing business in Ukraine” of this company.
“I am grateful for your decision to increase the volume of investments into our country,” Poroshenko added.
The Turkcell chairman, in turn, thanked the president for an opportunity of his company to take part in the work of the National Investment Council.
“It was a very productive and effective meeting. I am particularly impressed with its spirit and positive energy,” Ahmet Akca noted.