The preliminary results of parliamentary elections in Ukraine after counting of 30% of votes, from 7 am today, point to a clear lead of pro-western parties of Mrs Tymoshenko and Mr Yushchenko, ahead of a ‘blue coalition’ lead by Yanukovich, according to Interfax – Ukraine agency. With a 32.9% support Mrs Tymoshenko’s party would gain a majority in Parliament together with Mr Yushchenko party (15.7%) by a comfortable 5.0% margin, over the coalition of four ‘blue parties’ (43.5% in total), breaking the political deadlock in country.
Our view: We view the news as positive. Breaking the political deadlock is likely to improve business confidence and lead to an increase in advertising spending in the country. While CME’s Ukraine operation (‘Studio 1+1’, ‘Kino’, ‘City’) accounts for of only 6.7% of the total company equity value, according to our estimates, it remains the key engine for growth for the future years, due to its large demographic potential (48m inhabitants).