http://www.voanews.com/content/profile-petro-poroshenko-ukraines-presidential-candidate-chocolate-king/1889121.html

Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, a self-made confectionery magnate worth an estimated $1.3 billion, has emerged as the front-runner in opinion polls leading up to Ukraine's presidential election scheduled for May. The surveys show the one-time foreign minister who has pledged to rescue Ukraine’s economy and face down Russia, well ahead of his main rival, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Petro Poroshenko is known as the ‘Chocolate King’ in Ukraine, having built a fortune on confectionery. But he is no stranger to politics.

He was a regular speaker at Kyiv’s Independence Square at the height of the recent protests, denouncing corruption and calling for membership in the European Union. Orysia Lutsevych is at the London-based policy institute Chatham House.

“He became so popular during the recent protests because he was giving some kind of confidence in terms of his direct action, and also because he was not affiliated with the existing political parties,” said Lutsevych.

Poroshenko has received the backing of opposition leader and former boxer Vitaly Klitschko. In a recent interview, Poroshenko said he would build on Ukraine’s revolution.