President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and nominated his close ally Viktor Zubkov in a surprise move that kept Russians guessing over who would succeed him in the Kremlin.

The State Duma, Lower House of Parliament, would meet on Friday to confirm Zubkov’s nomination for Prime Minister, speaker Boris Grzylov told reporters.

The nomination of Zubkov, who currently oversees the government’s fight against money-laundering, appeared to have caught much of the Russian political elite off-guard.

Gryzlov backed Zubkov’s nomination, saying that his contribution in various fields undoubtedly allow him to lead the Cabinet of the Russian Federation.

Earlier, at a meeting with the outgoing Prime Minister in the Kremlin, Putin acccepted Fradkov’s resignation.

A professional economist, Zubkov currently heads the Federal Financial Monitoring Service and comes as an “unexpected candidate”, following widespread speculation that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was the front runner.

Duma’s First Deputy Speaker Oleg Morozov said Zubkov could later run for President.

Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Politika Foundation think-tank, said: “I do not believe Zubkov’s nomination means he will succeed Putin.”

Nikonov pointed out Putin’s decisions on appointments had seldom been guessed correctly and predicted that “Yeltsin scenario” was unlikely to repeat itself this time.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachyov told mediapersons that no changes in Russia’s foreign policy were expected after Fradkov’s resignation.