KIEV, Feb. 28 - Former State Material Reserve Committee Chairman Mykhailo Pozhyvanov has asked Austria to grant him political asylum.

"I consulted my lawyers and submitted special request to the relevant services of Austria [asking them] to grant political asylum to me,” he said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda Internet publication.

Pozhyvanov said that he together with his lawyer visited the so-called "camp for refugees" and submitted documents regarding the opening of a criminal case against him.