Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At 16:00 Moscow time, 14,857 polling stations opened in Czech Republic. Voting in the presidential election began on Friday in the Czech Republic. At 14:00 (16:00 Moscow time), 14,857 polling stations opened in the republic, where 8.3 million voters of a country with a population of approximately 10.6 million people can vote, TASS reports.

Voting will take place over two days. Preliminary results are expected to be announced late in the evening on 14 January.

The ongoing presidential elections are the third direct and general election of the head of state in the history of the Czech Republic. For the first time in this format they were held in 2013. Prior to that, the president was elected by parliament.

Czech political scientists predict that a second round of elections, which is already scheduled for 27-28 January, will be required to determine the winner. Opinion polls show that in the first round, none of the candidates for the highest state post will be able to gain more than 50% of the votes to secure victory. The two candidates with the most support go to the second round.