KIEV, Oct. 24 - Vitaly Klichko, the leader of the opposition Udar party, on Thursday declared his intention to run for president in 2015, hours after approval of a bill that may bar him from the election.

Klichko, who opinion polls suggest may have the best chance of beating incumbent President Viktor Yanukovych, becomes the first Ukrainian politician to openly declare his intention to run.

He was forced to make the declaration after Parliament, led by Yanukovych’s Regions Party, approved the controversial bill that may strip Klichko of an opportunity to run for the presidency.

"In connection with the dirty machinations taking place in Parliament with the texts of bills by pro-government lawmakers, I want to say that this does not intimidate and won’t stop me,” Klichko said.

"To put an end to all kinds attempt to deal with me as a possible candidate, I want to say: I will run for president," Klichko said.

The declaration comes after Parliament has approved the bill that may give the authorities power to exclude Klichko from the election by citing his residency in Germany.

Klichko, who is also a world heavyweight boxing champion, has lived and earned money in Germany. He, along with his brother Vladimir Klichko – also a world heavyweight boxing champion - own the K2 Promotions company. Both brothers lived and paid taxes in Germany for extended period of time, although keeping their Ukrainian citizenship.

A current law allows running for presidency in Ukraine for candidates that lived in the country for at least 10 years. Although Klichko has the Ukrainian citizenship since independence in 1991, the bill may give the authorities an opportunity to bar him from the election by citing his residency and tax payments in Germany.

“I did not believe that Klichko lived and paid taxes in Germany,” Oleksandr Yefremov, the leader of the Regions Party in Parliament, said.

“But when he came to the podium today and has openly said about it, I thought: does a lawmaker have the right not to pay taxes, earn money overseas and at the same time to count on privileges and benefits in his own country, including social security benefits?” Yefremov said.

He said that Klichko must first make sure that his papers are in order before running for the presidency, but added that the bill is not retrospective and should not actually affect his intentions to run for the presidency.

But Klichko responded that the bill was a direct attack on him as an attempt to remove a potential candidate.

"Everything that is happening to me is done to me as to the potential rival to Viktor Yanukovych,” Klichko said. authorities are trying to destroy his political rivals. “They quietly hid the amendment in the tax code bill that is absolutely political in its context and is directed personally against me as a possible candidate president.”

Klichko said it was not a violation of the Ukrainian law to earn money and to have official residency in Germany.

“I am a citizen of Ukraine since the independence,” Klichko said. “This is our country and it always will be."

Klichko would defeat Yanukovych 37.7% vs. 24.8% of the vote in the runoff, according to the poll released on October 14 by the Razumkov Center.

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, would win over Yanukovych with 32.5% vs. 25.5%, according to the poll.

The poll shows a steadily deteriorating support for Yanukovych who is expected to seek re-election to the second five-year term in office in March 2015.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8 among 2,010 respondents throughout Ukraine with a margin of error at 2.3%, the Razumkov Center reported. (tl/ez)