Russian parliament confirms PM

Mr Kasyanov got overwhelming support from parliament

The lower house of the Russian parliament has overwhelmingly confirmed Mikhail Kasyanov as Prime Minister.

Deputies in the State Duma voted 325 in favour and 55 against, with 15 abstentions on Wednesday. Mr Kasyanov was President Vladimir Putin's choice for the post.

Before the vote, Mr Kasyanov told the Duma that he wanted "vigorous reforms".

We cannot ease the pace of reforms

Mikhail Kasyanov

"We know that we can only solve our problems by building consensus among all branches of government, with society's consensus," he said.

He highlighted farming and banking as key sectors in need of reform.

Friendlier Duma

The current Duma, elected in December 1999, is much friendlier to the Kremlin than the previous house, which was often at loggerheads with former President Boris Yeltsin.

Mr Kasyanov has effectively headed the Russian Government since Mr Yeltsin handed over the reins of power to Mr Putin on 31 December. Mr Yeltsin always had to battle with the Duma to get his favourites for prime minister approved.

Putin does not need to battle with the parliament

It took plenty of political bargaining, often plenty of threats, and he did not always succeed.

But Mr Putin does not have that problem. He easily won the presidential election on a platform of restoring law and order and is respected in the parliament.

Economic problems

Mr Kasyanov told the Duma the government had scored a number of successes on the economic front, virtually eliminating barter and paying off debts to state sector workers.

But he conceded that "our success is based on weak fundamentals".

He said attention must be focused on the following areas:

• Farming - urgent need for land reform, state support and modernisation
• Banking - weed out unprofitable banks, rebuild trust
• Privatisation - inefficient state enterprises to be sold off
• Military - funds to be allocated more efficiently
• Tackling corruption - higher wages for civil servants, improve court system

"We cannot ease the pace of reforms, otherwise we shall end up standing in one place and eventually get mired in stagnation," he told the Duma.

But he warned that Russia's economic woes "will not be solved quickly".

"All of the old credits received by the government have already been eaten up."

Debt deal

Mr Kasyanov spent a decade in the Soviet state planning ministry, but later embraced market economics, becoming one of the Russian Finance Ministry's top negotiators with foreign creditors.

Kasyanov's career

1957: born

1990: Economics Ministry

1993: Finance Ministry

1999, May: finance minister

2000, January: first deputy prime minister

2000, February: London Club debt-rescheduling deal

2000, May: acting prime minister

As finance minister, he helped persuade the West to write off billions of dollars in Soviet-era debt.

When Vladimir Putin was busy running for president, it was Mr Kasyanov he trusted to keep an eye on the cabinet, appointing him first deputy prime minister.

But Mr Kasyanov does have his critics. He is widely suspected of having links to some of Russia's wealthiest and most politically influential business figures, although he denies the charge.

Most Russian analysts believe that from now on, it is the Kremlin, not the government, which will create and dictate policy in Russia.