KIEV, March 25. /TASS/. Incumbent Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko may disrupt a runoff presidential election if he fails to enter it, Gardarika Strategic Consulting Corporation expert Konstantin Matviyenko said at a press conference on Monday.

"I don’t rule out that President Poroshenko may choose to disrupt a runoff if he fails to enter it," he noted. According to the expert, facing comedian Vladimir Zelensky in a runoff would be a humiliation for the incumbent president. "It would mean a humiliating political death to Poroshenko," Matviyenko noted.

Director of the Ukrainian Barometer sociological service Viktor Nebozhenko, in turn, believes that if Poroshenko and Zelensky make it into a runoff, 80% of those supporting leader of the Batkivshchina (or Fatherland) party Yulia Timoshenko will vote in Zelensky’s favor.

Director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadim Karasev agrees that Poroshenko won’t beat Zelensky in a runoff. "I think that Yulia Timoshenko and Pyotr Poroshenko may enter a runoff. It is also possible that Poroshenko will face Zelensky," he said, adding that "Poroshenko will not win a runoff if Zelensky is the other candidate."

Karasev also believes that the period ahead of the April 21 runoff presidential election will be no less interesting and tough than the current election campaign. "Another election campaign will actually take place in the three weeks before a runoff," he said.

Ukrainian presidential election

The 2019 Ukrainian presidential election is scheduled to take place on March 31. According to opinion polls, comedian Vladimir Zelensky leads the race, followed by incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko and leader of the Batkivshchina party Yulia Timoshenko.