The Russian State Duma, lower chamber of parliament, approved Friday the candidacy of Mikhail Fradkov as Russia's new Prime Minister. Fradkov's nomination was supported by 411 votes, 5 MPs voted against and 6 abstained. No more than 266 of the votes are needed for the candidacy to be approved. Putin is now expected to sign a decree appointing Fradkov as Prime Minister. Next week Fradkov is expected to form the new Russian government.The candidacy of Fradkov, former chief of the tax police and Russia's representative in the EU, was unexpected and never mentioned in the media as a possible successor to Mikhail Kasyanov, whom Putin abruptly fired along with the entire government on February 24.