Andriy Volodymyrovych Portnov (; 27 October 1973 – 21 May 2025) was a Ukrainian lawyer and politician.
From 2005 to 2010, Portnov headed the legal department of Yulia Tymoshenko's election headquarters. From 2 April 2010 to the end of February 2014, he was the Head of the Main Department for Judiciary of the Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych and Deputy (then promoted to first deputy on 24 January 2014) Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine. He was also a member of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014.
During the Euromaidan, Portnov was involved in the adoption of anti-protest laws in Ukraine. Immediately after the Euromaidan, on 20 February 2014, he left Ukraine. Between 2014 and 2015, he was under the sanctions of the European Union. He lived in Russia, then moved to Vienna, and practiced law there. On 19 May 2019, he returned to Ukraine. On 15 January 2020, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv ruled that, for the purposes of elections Portnov was a resident of Ukraine for the last five years.
A number of criminal cases were filed against Portnov, many of which were quashed. In 2018, Ukrainian investigators began investigating Portnov's involvement in the annexation of Crimea, and the Security Service of Ukraine opened a treason case, which was later closed.СБУ закрила справу про держзраду, де згадувався Портнов. Українська правда (16 серпня 2019)
On May 21, 2025, Portnov was assassinated near the American School of Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain, where his two children were enrolled. One of the perpetrators was then arrested and charged by the National Police for the murder of Portnov.
Early life Andriy Portnov was born on 27 October 1973 in Luhansk.Портнов Андрей Владимирович. ЛІГА.Досье
In 1990, Portnov graduated from secondary school No. 50 in Luhansk. (Обновлённая версия) From 1991 to 1992, he served in the Soviet Army and the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
From 1993 to 1994, Portnov worked as a legal adviser for Yurlit Ltd in Luhansk, while studying at the correspondence department of the law faculty of East Ukrainian State University. Then, for less than two years, he was a lawyer at the AP "Lugansk Oil Depot". In 1996, he headed the law firm Ukrinformpravo in Luhansk. He graduated from the university in 1999.
Career At the Securities Commission In January 1997, Portnov began working in Kyiv at the State Commission on Securities and Stock Market. First, he held the position of chief specialist of the department of methodology and standardization of accounting and reporting of the corporate finance department. A few months later, he was appointed deputy head of the control and legal department and head of the law enforcement department.
From September 1997 to December 2001, he held the following positions in the commission: assistant to the chairman, head of the corporate finance department; the assistant to the chairman, leader of the group of assistants and advisers to the chairman; and head of the corporate finance department.
From January 2002 to May 2003, he was the director of the law firm Portnov and Partners, specializing in services in the field of investment business, corporate governance, privatization, and the securities market. The company was later renamed "Corporate Technologies". The firm itself and Portnov were repeatedly accused of raiding property between 2002 and 2010.
In June 2003, he returned to the State Commission and until July 2004, he worked as First Deputy Executive Secretary (Head of the Central Office).
In 2004, by the decree of the President of Ukraine, Portnov was awarded the title of Honored Lawyer of Ukraine.
In parliament
In July 2005, Portnov returned to law, which he was engaged in until April 2006. After the corruption scandal in Ukraine in September 2005, he represented in court the interests of Secretary of State Oleksandr Zinchenko, who accused the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Petro Poroshenko, and his entourage of corruption. The trial ended in Poroshenko's favor.
Before the 2006 parliamentary elections, Portnov was included in the list of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) and during the elections he headed the legal department of the factional headquarters, was elected a member of parliament as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 5th convocation.Татьяна Шахматова. Противоречивый юрист . Инвестгазета (5 November 2007) Electoral history of Andriy Volodymyrovych Portnov, Civil movement "Chesno"
At the early parliamentary elections in 2007, he re-entered parliament on the BYuT list, becoming a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 6th convocation. He became a member of the parliamentary committee on justice. In 2008, he was elected deputy head of the BYuT faction. At the time he was a member of All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland".
In parliament, there was an informal "Portnov group", which, in addition to Portnov, included Svyatoslav Oleynyk, Valeriy Pysarenko, and Volodymyr Pylypenko.Святослав Олейник: У Януковича установились с народом Украины садо-мазохистские отношения. Украинская правда (25 января 2011) From August to September 2008, on behalf of Tymoshenko, Portnov worked on joint bills with the Party of Regions that weakened the power of President Viktor Yushchenko.Андрей Портнов: Я не вступал в Партию регионов — я закончил политическую деятельность. Украинская правда (6 апреля 2010) In 2008, together with the legal team, he prevented early parliamentary elections from being held. He was involved in support of gas contracts in Moscow in 2009 that ended the 2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute.
On 30 May 2009, according to the quota of law schools, by the decision of the 3rd All-Ukrainian Congress of representatives of higher educational institutions and scientific institutions, he was elected to a six-year term as a member of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine.
In the Presidential Administration After Tymoshenko's defeat in the presidential elections of 2010, to Viktor Yanukovych, Portnov defended her interests in the Supreme Administrative Court. He later stated that he considered going to court as inappropriate and took up the case under pressure from Tymoshenko. After the presidential campaign, he stopped legal services for BYuT and resigned from the post of deputy head of the BYuT faction. Portnov's parliamentary group went over to the side of the Party of Regions.
On 2 April 2010, he accepted the offer of President Yanukovych to take the position of Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine and the Head of the Main Directorate for Judicial Reform and Judicial System.Портнов стал заместителем главы администрации Януковича. Украинская правда (2 апреля 2010) To the BYuT faction, Portnov's transfer to the Yanukovych administration was negatively perceived as treason.У БЮТ вспомнили, что Портнов с февраля готовился к измене. Украинская правда (6 апреля 2010) Yanukovych introduced Portnov to the council of the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as to the supervisory boards of OJSC State Savings Bank of Ukraine and OJSC State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine.Президент сменил своих представителей в набсоветах «Укрэксимбанка» и «Ощадбанка», 19 April 2010
In April 2011, as a result of the administrative reform, Portnov was transferred to the position of adviser to the president and head of the Main Directorate for the Judicial System of the Presidential Administration. In 2011, he headed a group to develop a draft of the new Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which was adopted by parliament in April 2012, and entered into force in November 2012.
Members of parliament Pysarenko Pylypenko and Syvaloslav Oliynyk were the leaders of the ideas on changes in the legislation initiated by Portnov himself, in the parliament and society. They were referred to as the "Portnov group." Portnov said about the new code that it "introduces a competitive model of criminal proceedings of the European type." Experts and human rights activists had many comments and reservations about the new Code. On the one hand, it was a step forward in comparison with the old "Soviet" criminal procedure legislation, but on the other hand, the new Code set a number of problems which can create obstacles for Ukraine's movement towards legal legislation.
Euromaidan protests During the Euromaidan, Portnov was a member of the working group on resolving the political crisis together with President Yanukovych and Minister of Justice Olena Lukash.Павел Шеремет. Андрей Портнов: Приеду и не буду никого предупреждать «Украинская Правда», 3 February 2015
16 January laws Portnov is called the initiator of the development of the so-called "dictatorial laws" of 16 January 2014, which significantly limited the constitutional rights of Ukrainian citizens and were directed against Euromaidan. These laws were passed by the majority of the then parliament in violation of the rules, without discussion, by show of hands, without the use of the "Rada" system.
Despite a positive attitude towards them, he denied participation in their creation.
On 24 January 2014, by Decree No. 39/2014, President Yanukovych appointed Portnov as the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration.Указ Президента України № 39/2014. Про призначення А. Портнова Першим заступником Глави Адміністрації Президента України.
On 22–24 February 2014, Portnov left Ukraine. He stated that he had been assaulted.
On 26 February 2014, Oleksandr Turchynov was sworn as acting President of Ukraine, and dismissed Portnov from the post of first deputy head of the administration.
On 28 February 2014, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine sent a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine to immediately detain those involved in the mass killings of activists in the center of Kyiv from 18 to 22 February 2014, which they suspected Portnov who was involved in those incidents within 10 days.
Sanctions On 5 March 2014, the European Council approved the blocking of a total of 17 former government officials and people close to former President Yanukovych on suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds. Former Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Portnov was also included in this list.
On 6 March 2014, the European Union and Canada announced that Portnov was on the list of high-ranking Ukrainian officials against whom financial sanctions were being imposed. Portnov himself declared that he had no financial assets abroad.
On 25 May 2014, the FMS of Russia granted him a temporary residence permit for a period of 3 years. He later moved to Vienna, where he practiced law.
On 25 August 2014, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv partially satisfied Portnov's claim against the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, ruling to declare unreliable information about his alleged involvement in the massacres of activists at Euromaidan during the early winter events of 2014.
On 9 October, the court ruled unreliable information about Portnov's alleged involvement in the plundering of land and real estate in Mezhyhirya and the legalization of funds, made public by the leadership of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine addressed to him at a press conference on 20 May and ordered the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine within 10 days to publicly refute this.
At the end of December 2014, Portnov, who was living in Moscow (Russia) at that time, announced plans to return to Ukraine in 2015 due to the absence of legal charges against him. In the fall, the European Union received a written message that the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies had no procedural actions against the Klyuyev brothers and Portnov on charges of embezzlement.Портнов планирует вернуться в Киев: юридически, никаких обвинений нет «NEWSru.ua», 22 December 2014