The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) has informed Canada that there were no grounds for applying sanctions against the former deputy head of the presidential administration of Ukraine under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, Andriy Portnov, the Novoye Vremia edition reports.

A photocopy of the corresponding official letter dated July 30, signed by Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Serhiy Kiz, has been posted on Novoye Vremia's website.

"As of July 29, 2019 there is no pretrial investigation against A.V. Portnov, this person does not have the procedural status of a suspect, accused or defendant. Given the above, there are no legal grounds for the stay of Andriy Volodymyrovych Portnov, born on October 27, 1973, in the list to the regulation on freezing the assets of corrupt foreign officials (Ukraine) dated March 5, 2014," the letter said.

According to the publication, Canada imposed sanctions against the associates of former president Viktor Yanukovych, including Portnov, in 2014. In 2019, the government of Canada extended the sanctions against him and another 15 associates of Yanukovych for five years.