Ukrainian "Chocolate King" Oligarch Next President? "Gas Princess" distant second.

[Fred Sanders]

Ukraine's For The Rich And Corrupt Only Presidential "election".


* PETRO POROSHENKO (48)

Poroshenko, a confectionery tycoon, is the front runner in the race, with some opinion surveys indicating he may even win outright in the first round.

He was the only Ukrainian oligarch to move swiftly to support the popular uprising against Yanukovich which began in central Kiev in late November, devoting his '5th Channel' TV station to coverage of the protests.

A seasoned politician who served as foreign minister and economy minister in previous administrations, he owns a chain of confectionery shops that have put the billionaire on Ukraine's top 10 rich list, earning him the nick-name "Chocolate King".

Poroshenko, whose chocolate manufacturer Roshen is one of the world's top 20 confectionery firms, backs Ukraine's integration with the West and his firm has been targeted by Russia.

* YULIA TYMOSHENKO (53)

Wearing a peasant-style hair braid that became her trademark and with strong organizational powers, Tymoshenko, a fiery public speaker, became a force in Ukrainian politics. But she was dogged by involvement in gas deals in the 1990s from which she made a fortune and which gave her the nickname of "gas princess". Seen by many as divisive and too sharp of tongue, she can inspire loathing as well as loyalty among Ukrainians.

Tymoshenko was convicted and jailed for 2-1/2 years under Yanukovich for abuse of office, walking free only in February when her nemesis fled to Russia. But with the dynamics of the political establishment drastically changed by the Maidan revolution, she has failed to re-kindle her old strong support.

Surveys put her in a distant second place.




http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/us-ukraine-crisis-election-candidates-idUSBREA4J0BL20140520

[LittleBlue]

1. *crickets*

[joeybee12]

2. I'll knr since it's not the usual RT garbage posted here all too frequently...

Seeing people take the RT seriously makes me embarrassed for DU.

[itsrobert]

3. +1

nt

[Fred Sanders]

4. Reuters is the source, which is usually Western crap, but what corporate media outlet now is not?

Sometimes they all get something right.

[joeybee12]

5. Are you saying the RT is more reliable than Reuters?

That's

[Fred Sanders]

6. They seem both equally able to deflect and tell half truths, "reliable" is a word with

a lot of definitions, media reliability would be hard to define at all.

[joeybee12]

7. Well, the only other source backing up the Putin Propganda Machine known as the RT is...

Well, nothing.

The rest of the EU media aren't buying the RT lies.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Not a thrilling slate of candidates by any stretch of the imagination.

But so long as they don't shoot protesters, it's still an improvement over Yanukovych, no matter how slight.