MOSCOW, March 5, 2004 (RIA Novosti correspondent) - Prime Minister nominee Mikhail Fradkov arrived at the State Duma this morning.
At 10 am, the State Duma (lower house) began considering his candidacy to the prime ministerial post.
When asked how he felt about all this, Fradkov said, "I've come here with optimism and hope." Fradkov made it into the governmental balcony and took a seat next to presidential plenipotentiary to the Duma Alexander Kotenkov.