LUGANSK, November 3. /TASS/. Incumbent leader of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky and the Peace to Lugansk Region public movement, which he leads, are winning Sunday’s elections, the head of the regional election authority has said.

With 27.8% of the votes counted, Plotnitsky secured 63.17% of the votes. His closest rival Oleg Akimov, the head of the Trade Unions Federation, received 15.95% of the votes, followed by businessman Viktor Penner (10.9%) and LPR Health Minister Larisa Ayrapetyan (8.36%).

The Peace to Lugansk Region has secured 69.18% of the votes at the elections to the LPR People’s Council. The Lugansk Economic Union comes second with 24.07%, followed by People’s Union with 4.96%.

The Peace to Lugansk Region movement calls for the independence of the republic and says one of its main goals is to develop close relations with Russia.

The Lugansk Economic Union also calls for strengthening ties with Russia. The key priority is restoring production and exporting goods made in LPR. Its slogan is “wealth to every home.”