Ukraine’s incumbent President Petro Poroshenko announced his candidature for president in the elections slated for March 31 at a press conference on January 29.

"I have decided to run in the election once again," the incumbent said, addressing a forum dubbed "From Kruty to Brussels. We Follow Our Own Path," reports Tass.

"I would like to ask voters for a mandate to ensure the irreversibility of the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and our independence, as well as to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, bring back peace, complete the construction of a strong state capable of providing prosperity to every Ukrainian," Poroshenko said.

The president still has a lot of heavy lifting to do as he is currently trailing in fourth place with 8% in the most recent polls, 12 points behind opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko with 20%. Poroshenko’s first task will be to simply beat independent candidate comedian Vladimir Zelenskiy and head of the Opposition Bloc Yuriy Boyko (aka Boiko) to make it to a second round vote scheduled for April.

However, it is widely assumed that Poroshenko’s position will improve in the actual vote and is expected to make full use of his “administrative resources” to ensure he gets to the second round.

The dirty tricks in the election are already appearing. A candidate named Yuri Tymoshenko registered in the regions in a move designed to confuse voters and split votes. Analysts in Kyiv also point out that the number of voters on the registrar are suspiciously high compared to 2014 and that with some 5mn out of the country working abroad there is plenty of room for vote fixing by those with the connections in the regional administrations. And finally last year Poroshenko increased the number of judges in the constitutional court, stuffing it with supporters, in preparation for any challenge to the election results. The presidential elections are already looking like they will be hard fought and controversial.

Poroshenko is hamstrung by his own failures to delivery on the promise of a better life that drove the Euromaidan protests in 2014.

In a damning poll release this week eight out of ten (80%) of Ukrainian citizens believe Ukraine is moving in the “wrong direction,” according to a poll from the Seetarget company it was reported on January 29. Poroshenko himself ranks first amongst voters who said they “will not vote for under any circumstances” followed by Tymoshenko in second place in this metric.

Poroshenko is going to run as a self-nominated candidate, rather than a representative of his eponymous parliamentary fraction, because of the party’s low approval rating and a number of scandals involving people from his immediate circle.

Prior to Poroshenko's bid, 41 people announced plans to run the Ukrainian presidential election, 22 of whom have already been registered by the country’s Central Election Commission.

At the same event Poroshenko stated that in 2024, Ukraine would apply for membership in the European Union.

"In 2024, we will apply for EU membership, and I’m expecting a positive decision," Poroshenko stated on Tuesday during a forum under the name "From Kruty to Brussels. We Are Going Our Own Way" in Kiev, where he announced his intention to run for president in the elections planned for March 2019.

EU membership has not been offered by the EU. Ukraine’s membership of the EU is likely to a red line, which Russia would not allow the country to cross without vigorously working against it.