KIEV, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's former parliamentary speaker confirmed in an interview published on Friday that he would run in presidential elections due later this year or early in 2010.

"I will run to win the election," Arseniy Yatsenyuk, 34, who has also served as economics minister and foreign minister and is seen as President Viktor Yushchenko's ally, told Ukraine's Profil magazine.

Yatsenyuk, a millionaire businessman, said he would find support among people looking for change in the former Soviet republic. He also said he planned to establish a political party based on his recently established non-governmental organization, The Front of Change.

The announcement came after Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko confirmed on Thursday her plans to run for president. Tymoshenko, along with opposition leader and former premier Viktor Yanukovych, is seen as a leading contender.

Recent opinion polls put Yanukovych in the lead in popularity ratings followed by Tymoshenko and Yatsenyuk. Despite approval ratings in the single figures, Yushchenko also plans to run for a second term.

However, Tymoshenko's ratings are also falling over her protracted dispute with Yushchenko, both allies in the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that swept them to power, as many believe it has contributed to the current political instability and economic recession in the largest state located entirely within Europe.

Parliament earlier scheduled presidential elections for October 25, but the Constitutional Court rejected the decision as illegitimate following an appeal lodged by Yushchenko. Polls may now be held in January 2010.