Austria grants residence permit to Yanukovych's ally Portnov

"I live in Austria, in Vienna. I reside there absolutely legally. The Austrian authorities had been verifying my status for a long time and gave me permission to stay and work there," he said in an interview with ZIK TV channel.

Portnov assures that he has registered a law firm and opened a bank account in Austria.

Read alsoPortnov wins case against EU Council on sanctionsAnswering the question about the Euromaidan in Ukraine, Portnov denied his participation in drafting the so-called "dictatorial laws" of January 16, 2014. However, he refused to call out the authors of these laws. Although he noted that some of them had left Ukraine.