New Russian PM could compete for presidency

Russia:Viktor Zubkov said yesterday he would shake up the Russian cabinet and consider running for the country's presidency next year, after being named prime minister by his long-time friend and colleague Vladimir Putin.

Mr Zubkov was visiting parliament ahead of today's vote to approve his nomination, which surprised a Russian political elite that had expected one of deputy prime ministers Sergei Ivanov or Dmitry Medvedev to be named premier in place of Mikhail Fradkov.

But instead Mr Zubkov was plucked from the relative obscurity of a money-laundering watchdog, just as Mr Fradkov was promoted from a quiet job in Brussels in 2004, and analysts expect him to match his predecessor for obedience to Mr Putin.

The Kremlin leader is due to step down next year after two terms in office, and Mr Ivanov and Mr Medvedev are considered the favourites to succeed him. Neither has publicly revealed presidential ambitions, however, and Mr Zubkov stole a march on them by announcing that he might run for the office.

"If I achieve something as prime minister then I do not rule out that possibility," he said, before declaring himself dissatisfied with the current working of the cabinet. "The government structure is not ideal," he said. "Administrative reform has not been very effective. There will be structural changes for sure."

Russian media tipped liberal minister for the economy German Gref and the unpopular, gaffe-prone minister for health and social affairs, Mikhail Zurabov, to be replaced.

Mr Gref favours opening up Russia's economy to more private and foreign investors, something that has seen him clash with a powerful clique in the Kremlin that backs a stronger role for state-controlled firms like Gazprom and Rosneft, huge energy companies that have snapped up the prized assets of now-defunct private oil major Yukos.

The pro-Kremlin parliament is due to approve Mr Zubkov's nomination today, something that Mr Putin said would put Russia on a stable footing through December's parliamentary election and next year's presidential ballot.

"I expect all these changes will lead to the system of government in Russia functioning without hitches in the election period and after the election period," he said.

Mr Putin also suggested that a new man at the head of government would keep officials on their toes through a time of change. "We are all people with our own life plans, our views of the future. Of course it's hard to concentrate," he said.

"What I mean is that there is some uncertainty over what will happen to each individual person, how the system of power and rule of the country will be built after the elections."

Mr Zubkov (65) worked with Mr Putin in St Petersburg city hall in the 1990s. Analysts believe he may serve as a reliable technocrat through whom Mr Putin can exert influence from the shadows after leaving the Kremlin, or even assume the presidency for one term before making way for Mr Putin's return.