KIEV, Jan. 18 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will face each other in a runoff after scoring the best results in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, official data show.

Yanukovych was ahead of Tymoshenko 37.34% vs. 24.32%, and both were far ahead of the other 16 candidates, the Central Election Commission reported on Monday after counting 31.26% of ballots.

Four separate exit polls also show that Yanukovych and Tymoshenko - two fierce rivals - have outpaced other candidates and will be heading towards the runoff on February 7.

“They both run for the victory,” Olesia Yakhno, an independent Kiev-based political analyst, said. “It looks like there will be Armageddon between the first and the second rounds.”

Serhiy Tyhypko, a former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, scored 12.88%, followed by Arseniy Yatseniuk, a former speaker of Parliament, with 6.66%, according to the CEC.

Voters seem to have punished incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western figure, who has scored the No. 5 result in the race with about 4.71% support, the CEC reported.

The voter turnout – at 66.68% - appears to be somewhat lower compared with previous election, reflecting voter disillusion among many voters, according to the CEC.

The voters are choosing Ukrainian president for the next five years, the post that will mostly define the country’s foreign and defense policies.

Both, Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, have pledged after winning the election to amend the constitution to increase powers of the president.

Under current constitution, the prime minister and the pro-government coalition have total control over domestic policy, including economic and financial policies.

Some observers said they were surprised by Tymoshenko’s strong performance at the election given the fact that Ukraine’s economy, and the national currency, are some of the worst performing in the world.

“I am very much impressed by Tymoshenko’s exceptionally good result,” Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition figure and a former economic advisor to Yushchenko.

“The country is in the middle of the crisis, but nevertheless this person collects so many votes,” Nemtsov said speaking at a talk show on Inter television Sunday night. “This means that Yulia Volodymyrivna is very talented, charismatic person and politician.”

Tymoshenko, appearing at her campaign headquarters shortly after the release of exit polls, said she had no doubts in her victory.

“I will not let you down under any circumstances,” Tymoshenko said. “You will not regret your choice.”

She said the exit polls mean that “Ukraine will be remain European and democratic state.”

“That means Yanukovych, who represents criminal circles, has no chance,” Tymoshenko said. “This is an obvious and clear result of the first round.”

Meanwhile, Yanukovych also praised the election results in the first round, suggesting that Tymoshenko will end up in the opposition.

“Tymoshenko must not get worried,” Yanukovych said. “She will have find herself on a very good spot [as the leader of opposition] that she deserves in politics. She looks very well on that spot.” (tl/ez)