Some 170 groups and organisations have applied for a government subsidy to campaign ahead of the Ukraine referendum vote, the referendum commission said on Wednesday.

However, almost half of the requests do not meet the official requirements, mainly because they have not given proper answers to questions about their proposals, the commission said.

The commission has €2m to distribute ahead of the April 6 vote. Some €700,000 has been earmarked for both the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ campaigns while the rest will go on ‘neutral’ information only platforms.

Organisations can request up to €50,000 while individuals can ask for a maximum subsidy of €5,000.

Yes vote

The number of people intending to vote ‘yes’ in April’s referendum on the EU treaty with Ukraine has risen from 38% to 44.5%, according to an opinion poll published at the start of this week.

The poll, carried out by I&O research and Twente University, also shows 34% of the electorate plans to vote in the referendum. At least 30% have to vote for the results to have any legal status and the researchers say the actual turnout is likely to be below the current estimate.

The vote is only open to Dutch nationals.