KYIV, April 4 - Nearly three quarters of Ukrainians - 73.5% - believe the presidential candidates to compete in the second round of the presidential election must hold public debates.

A nationwide poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on March 20-26, that is, even before the first round of the election, whose findings were presented at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, showed that 43.8% of respondents believe debates between the two candidates definitely have to be held, while 29.7% are of the view that such debates are desirable. Only 17.8% of those polled think debates are unnecessary.