KIEV, Jan. 19 – Ukraine’s two remaining presidential hopefuls, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, on Tuesday scrambled to chase swing voters who may define the outcome of the runoff election next month.

Yanukovych traveled to Chernivtsi, the stronghold of Arseniy Yatseniuk, a former speaker of Parliament, who finished the No. 4 in the first round of voting on Sunday.

At the same time the Tymoshenko campaign has been reaching out to Serhiy Tyhypko, a former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, who ended up the No. 3 on Sunday, a newspaper reported.

Both Tyhypko and Yatseniuk on Sunday refused to endorse either of the candidates for the runoff vote, but their supporters – about 20% of all voters - remain prized assets for Tymoshenko and Yanukovych.

“Ukrainians voted for changes that the country needs,” Yanukovych said in an interview with Chernivtsi television. “I am ready for cooperation with all politicians that want to build a strong independent Ukraine.”

The message is apparently tailored to appeal to supporters of both Yatseniuk and Tyhypko, whose parties are named the Front of Changes and the Strong Ukraine, respectively.

But as Yanukovych has been trying to appeal to voters directly, Tymoshenko has been reaching out to Tyhypko seeking his endorsement, people familiar with the situation said.

As a bargaining chip, Tymoshenko has been considering offering Tyhypko the post of prime minister and half of the government for his allies, Delo newspaper reported.

“He is not going to accept anything less than that,” Oleksandr Turchynov, Tymoshenko’s campaign chief, apparently told Tymoshenko, according to the newspaper.

Turchynov has now been working on an agreement that he plans to shortly submit to Tyhypko, the people said.

However, the risk for Tyhypko that may be associated with accepting the deal is that there is no guarantee that his voters will cast their ballots for Tymoshenko even if he tells them to.

“One of the reasons I voted for Tyhypko is that he is not Tymoshenko,” Oleksandr, 32, a Kiev resident, said. “Tymoshenko is not getting my vote.”

That poses a danger for Tyhypko, who risks of alienating some of his voters by endorsing a candidate they might have problems with, before the general election to Parliament.

Yanukovych and Tymoshenko need support from swing voters to secure victory in the runoff on February 7, analysts said.

Yanukovych scored 35.32% of the vote on Sunday, followed by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s 25.05%, the Central Election Commission reported Tuesday after counting all ballots.

Tyhypko scored 13.06%, followed by Yatseniuk’s 6.96%, Yushchenko’s 5.45% and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko’s 3.55%, according to the commission.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn received support from 2.35% of voters, while nationalist Svoboda leader Oleh Tiahnybok got 1.43% of the vote, the commission reported. (tl/ez)