Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as presidential candidate to replace him when he leaves office next year.
Mr Putin is to step down after the 2 March presidential elections after serving two consecutive terms. Whichever candidate President Putin endorses is widely expected to be almost assured of replacing him in the Kremlin.
'As far as the candidacy of (Medvedev) is concerned, I have been very closely acquainted with him for 17 years and I completely and fully support this candidacy', Mr Putin said.
Mr Medvedev, 42, is a Kremlin insider seen as a staunch Putin loyalist.
A lawyer by training, he owes his rise within Russia's power elite to Mr Putin, who hired him in the early 1990s to work on his staff at the Saint Petersburg local government.
After serving as Mr Putin's campaign manager for his successful 2000 election run, Mr Medvedev was appointed presidential chief of staff in the Kremlin and later chairman of Gazprom, the jewel in Russia's energy crown.
