(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-15 11:36

Russia's surprise choice for new prime minister said yesterday he did not rule out running for president next year, adding to the uncertainty over who will replace Vladimir Putin when he steps down.

New Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov holds flowers at the parliament in Moscow on, September 14, 2007. The lower house of parliament confirmed Viktor Zubkov as Russia's new prime minister on Friday. Lawmakers in the parliament voted 381-47 to approve Zubkov for the post. [AP]

Putin nominated Viktor Zubkov, the little-known head of a money laundering watchdog, on Wednesday as the new premier in a move that confounded analysts who had expected a political heavyweight to be chosen.

Most observers predicted Zubkov, a virtual unknown who spent part of his career running a collective farm, would have a caretaker role while Putin endorsed a more high-profile figure to take over the Kremlin top job.

Putin gave nothing away when he said he sacked Mikhail Fradkov as prime minister and nominated Zubkov to ensure stability through a potentially turbulent election cycle.

"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," Russian television showed Putin saying at a dairy farm in Belgorod region.

Zubkov, speaking to reporters in parliament where he was meeting lawmakers, was asked whether he planned to run in an election next March to choose Putin's successor.

"If I achieve something as prime minister then I do not rule out that possibility," Zubkov told reporters. The parliament, dominated by Putin loyalists, is expected to confirm Zubkov's appointment today.

However, an official who did not want to be named, played down the significance of Zubkov's comment, saying he may have been flustered by the television cameras.

Zubkov, a 65-year-old who worked alongside Putin in the 1990s in the St Petersburg City Hall, pledged Cabinet changes.

"The government structure is not ideal," he said. "The administrative reform has not been very effective. There will be structural changes for sure."

Several Russian newspapers, citing government sources, said that liberal-minded Economy Minister German Gref could be the chief casualty of a Cabinet reshuffle.

The papers said he might be replaced by Andrei Dvorkovich, head of the economic staff at the presidential administration, or Andrei Kostin, CEO of state-controlled VTB Bank, which recently floated on the London stock market.

A spokeswoman for Gref said he was with Putin on a visit to the Belgorod region south of Moscow and had made no changes to his diary. "We are working as usual," she said.

Gref has been a standard-bearer for efforts to open up the Russian economy to private capital, fighting a battle with hawks who favor a bigger role for state corporations like Gazprom and Rosneft.

Russian media said gaffe-prone Health and Social Affairs Minister Mikhail Zurabov was also likely to be left out of Zubkov's government.

Most observers had been expecting Putin to name First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as prime minister as a prelude to Ivanov becoming president.

The consensus yesterday was that Putin wanted to keep everyone guessing about the identity of his favored successor and so avoid becoming a lame duck.

"The president has carried out a very elegant manoeuver: as expected he has changed the government but he has not created a rival for himself," Vedomosti financial daily said.

Some Russian newspapers said Zubkov's background as a financial regulator gave him access to information about the finances of Russia's elite - knowledge which could give him political leverage.