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Ukraine's election commission registers presidential candidates

Seven people have already received the official status of the country’s presidential candidate

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Business tycoon Petro Poroshenko

© ITAR-TASS/EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Batkivshchyna leader Yulia Tymoshenko

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Svoboda party leader Oleh Tyahnibok

© ITAR-TASS/Maxim Nikitin

Former vice premier Yuriy Boyko

© ITAR-TASS/Denis Vyshinsky

Serhiy Tihipko

© ITAR-TASS/Maxim Shemetov

Former governor of the Kharkiv region Mykhailo Dobkin

© ITAR-TASS/Artyom Geodakyan

Former deputy prosecutor general Renat Kuzmin

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Businessman Vadim Rabynovych

© ITAR-TASS/Maria Frolova

Former deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Valery Konovalyuk

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Fadeichev

Leader of the Right Sector Dmytro Yarosh has decided to run in the election as a self-nominee

© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze

Doctor Olga Bogomolets (right) registering as a self-nominee

© ITAR-TASS/Nikolai Lazarenko

Former defence minister Anatoly Gritsenko

© ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Sindeev

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KIEV, March 31. /ITAR-TASS/. The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine has received documents and a monetary deposit of 2.5 million hryvnia (around $233,000) from 24 people, vying for the post of the country’s president. A total of 38 people have applied to the CEC, however, not all of them had properly registered documents.

The reception of documents ended at midnight from Sunday to Monday, local time.

According to the CEC press service, seven people have already received the official status of the country’s presidential candidate - former vice premiers Yuriy Boyko and Serhiy Tihipko, former governor of the Kharkiv region Mykhailo Dobkin, former deputy prosecutor general Renat Kuzmin, businessman Vadim Rabynovych, former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Valery Konovalyuk and head of the Interagroexport company Volodymyr Saranov.

Parliamentary factions nominate candidates

Four parliamentary factions - Batkivshchyna, UDAR, Svoboda and the Party of Regions - on Saturday held congresses, where they nominated presidential candidates. Batkivshchyna, as expected, nominated for the presidential post the party’s leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Svoboda - its leader Oleh Tyahnibok. Members of the Party of Regions selected Dobkin from several candidates.

UDAR leader Vitali Klitschko, who had earlier been among the first to declare his presidential ambitions, has decided to support parliament member, confectionery business tycoon Petro Poroshenko who will run in the presidential race as a self-nominee. Klitschko himself said he was ready to run in the elections of Kiev’s mayor that are to be held on the same day with the presidential elections - May 25. All the candidates, nominated at the party congresses, have submitted their documents to the CEC.

Read also

May 25 election in Ukraine illegitimate, Russian representative at OSCE says

Other candidates

Leader of the Right Sector Dmytro Yarosh has decided to run in the election as a self-nominee. His rivals will be, in particular, well-known doctor Olga Bogomolets, former social policy minister Natalya Korolevskaya, former defence minister Anatoly Gritsenko.

Documents to the CEC for registration have also been submitted by non-faction deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Oleh Lyashko, MP Oleh Tsariov, former minister of incomes and fees Oleksandr Klimenko, former head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service Mykola Malomuzh and representative of the Internet Party Darth Vader who has taken the image of the Star Wars American epic space opera character.

The CEC is to consider the submitted documents for five days - until April 4.

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