Billionaire oligarch Petro Poroshenko seemed set to come out on top in the first round of crucial presidential elections in Ukraine, which were marred when several million voters in the east were prevented from taking part by a spreading separatist insurgency.

亿万富翁寡头彼得罗•波罗申科(Petro Poroshenko，见上图)似乎将在乌克兰总统选举的首轮投票中胜出。在该国东部，不断蔓延的分离主义叛乱正在阻止数百万选民参与投票，给这场关键的选举蒙上了阴影。

Private exit polls were said to show Mr Poroshenko with a big lead over Yulia Tymoshenko, former premier and co-leader of the 2004 “Orange revolution”. But it was unclear if the confectionery magnate nicknamed the “Chocolate King” would muster the 50 per cent needed to avoid a second-round vote in three weeks’ time.

据悉，私人机构的出口民调显示，波罗申科获得的票数比乌克兰前总理、2004年“橙色革命”领导人之一尤利娅•季莫申科(Yulia Tymoshenko)高出一大截。但是，尚不清楚这位有“巧克力大王”之称的糖果业巨头能否赢得50%的选票，从而不必在三周后举行第二轮投票。

The fact that large parts of the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions were unable to vote – with no polling stations open in Donetsk, the biggest city in the eastern industrial heartland – may have boosted the pro-western tycoon’s lead.

乌克兰东部顿涅茨克州和卢甘斯克州的大片地区无法投票（作为东部工业腹地的最大城市，顿涅茨克市没有一个投票站开放），这个事实可能加大了这位亲西方大亨的领先程度。

But a second round would add to uncertainty over the final outcome. Unless authorities found a way for eastern Ukrainians to vote in bigger numbers then Mr Poroshenko could lack the decisive nationwide mandate he had sought to help reunite Ukraine, and defuse tensions with Russia.

但是，第二轮投票会给最终结果增添变数。除非当局设法让乌克兰东部的更多选民能够投票，否则波罗申科可能得不到他寻求获得的决定性的全国授权，以帮助乌克兰重新团结起来，并缓解与俄罗斯的紧张关系。

Low participation in the east might also hand a pretext to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, not to recognise the vote, even after edging in recent days towards doing so.

东部地区的投票率较低也可能使俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)得到一个不承认选举结果的借口，尽管他在近日暗示会尊重乌克兰人民的选择。

Highlighting the deterioration of law and order in the east, masked rebel gunmen took up positions yesterday outside the luxury Donetsk residence of Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man. Separatist leaders said they planned to arrest Mr Akhmetov for failing to pay taxes to their self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic.

突显乌克兰东部治安恶化的一个事态是，蒙面的反叛枪手昨日在乌克兰首富里纳特•阿赫梅托夫(Rinat Akhmetov)位于顿涅茨克的豪华住所外摆开架势。分离主义领导人表示，他们计划逮捕阿赫梅托夫，理由是他未向他们宣告成立的“顿涅茨克人民共和国”纳税。

A victory by Mr Poroshenko would bring to power a man who publicly backed February’s protests in Kiev that ousted former president Viktor Yanukovich. Yet, as a businessman who has also served as a government minister, he is a symbol of the cronyism the demonstrations aimed to overthrow.

波罗申科曾公开支持2月份的基辅抗议活动；抗议活动最终推翻了前总统维克托•亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovich)。然而，作为一名商人和前政府部长，他也是示威者寻求推翻的任人唯亲风气的一个象征。

The fluent English-speaking tycoon is, however, seen as a pragmatic figure whose pro-European stance is balanced by business links with Russia.

不过，这位英语流利的大亨被视为一个务实的人物，他一方面持亲欧立场，另一方面也与俄罗斯有商业联系。

That may aid his ability to build bridges between the country’s Ukrainian-speaking west and Russian-speaking east, and with Moscow.

这可能有助于他在乌克兰讲乌克兰语的西部和讲俄语的东部之间、以及在乌克兰与俄罗斯之间搭建桥梁。

But his task would be complicated by the lack of a mandate from eastern regions, which together comprise 6.6m people, and where armed pro-Russian rebels disrupted the election to a greater degree than expected.

但是，他的任务将因缺乏东部地区的授权而变得复杂化。这些地区的总人口达到660万人，亲俄的反政府武装分子在这里扰乱选举，扰乱程度超出预期。

Asked while voting if his first trip as president would be to the EU or Russia, Mr Poroshenko responded “To Donbass”, the name given to Ukraine’s industrial southeast.

波罗申科在投票时被问及，若当选总统，他接下来的第一次旅行将是去欧盟还是俄罗斯？对此，他的答复是“去顿巴斯(Donbass)”。顿巴斯是乌克兰东南部工业地区。

Vadim Karasiov, a political analyst, said: “The card played by Russia will be to point out that the presidential election did not, de facto, take place in Donbass, [so] the newly-elected president does not represent this region”.

政治分析人士瓦季姆•卡拉西奥夫(Vadim Karasiov)表示：“俄罗斯要打的牌将是，指出这场大选事实上没有在顿巴斯举行，（因此）新当选的总统不能代表这个地区。”

Turnout appeared high in west and central Ukraine. But the central election commission said voting was taking place in only two of 12 districts in the Lugansk region, and seven out of 22 in the Donetsk region.

乌克兰西部和中部的投票率似乎相当高。但中央选举委员会表示，卢甘斯克州的12个区中只有2个举行了投票，顿涅茨克州的22个区中只有7个举行了投票。

Electoral officials in Donetsk said separatists had seized ballot boxes and papers, and some staff had been intimidated by rebels into not opening the polls.

顿涅茨克州的选举事务官员表示，分离主义分子夺取了票箱和选票，叛乱者还威吓一些工作人员不要开放投票。

In Donetsk city, there was little sign of voters clamouring to cast ballots.

在顿涅茨克市，几乎没有迹象显示选民急着要投票。

Three factory workers drinking beer outside a school normally used as a polling station said they would not have voted for any of the 20 candidates.

在一所通常用作投票站的学校外，三个工厂工人边喝啤酒边说，他们不会投票支持20个候选人当中的任何一人。

“We want someone from Donbass,” said one.

“我们希望支持来自顿巴斯的人，”其中一个工人说道。