Putin Tabs Unlikely PM

President Vladimir Putin on Monday nominated Mikhail Fradkov, a former tax police chief who is Russia's representative to the European Union, for the post of prime minister.

Putin named Fradkov — who had not been among those considered likely candidates — during a meeting with leading lawmakers from the dominant pro-Kremlin party.

The president said his nominee had to be a "highly professional, orderly person with good experience in various branches of state activity."

Fradkov, 53, was a foreign trade official during the Soviet era and served as Russia's trade minister twice in the 1990s. He was appointed to head the tax police in March 2001, but the agency was disbanded last year. He was named as representative to the EU last March.

Unlike in a parliamentary democracy, the prime minister in Russia does not lead the country. He is responsible for shaping economic policy and for coordinating the work of other ministries, although the defense and interior ministers answer directly to the president.

The nomination came six days after Putin surprised the nation by dismissing longtime Cabinet chief Mikhail Kasyanov, the last major holdover from Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Fradkov told NTV television Putin had offered him the nomination a few days ago.

Putin's nominee is subject to approval by the Duma, but the legislature's support is not in doubt because the pro-Kremlin United Russia party holds more than 300 seats in the 450-member chamber. Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said lawmakers would consider the nomination Wednesday, and called Fradkov "a real corruption fighter."

Russian analysts speculated that Fradkov was appointed to take charge of — and blame for — unpopular but badly needed reforms that would reduce government subsidies in sectors such as housing, health care and education.

But Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the pro-democracy Yabloko party, tells CBS News Putin's choice amounts to not much more than a rubber stamp.

"He's [Fradkov] a name which nobody knows in Russian politics. It's a nomination of a tactical figure which makes Putin responsible for all government. He's a not a political figure at all. He's going to do what the president is going to say."

"In a year or two or three, they will again tell us the same old story … the government is at fault for everything, while the president and the Duma majority are good," Vladimir Ryzhkov, one of the Duma's few liberals, said on NTV.

The president had been expected to fire Kasyanov after the March 14 presidential election. Some analysts said the ouster was timed to increase public interest and voter turnout in the upcoming presidential election, which Putin is expected to win with ease.

At least 50 percent of eligible voters must cast ballots for the election to be valid, and the lack of a realistic challenger has turned the vote into a referendum on Putin's rule. A low turnout would embarrass the president and could throw his mandate into doubt.

Human rights monitors have accused Putin's government of repressing dissent by closing independent media outlets. Putin, a former KGB officer, has pursued some media moguls for corruption.

Putin said Wednesday that his decision to dismiss the Cabinet before the election was motivated by a desire not to waste time wrangling over a new government after the vote and to expedite administrative reforms.

Kasyanov was named finance minister in 1999 and became prime minister after Putin was elected president in March 2000.