Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday proposed Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin as Moscow's new mayor.
The City Duma will now vote on his candidacy, but analysts say there is little doubt that 52-year-old Sobyanin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, will be approved.
Direct elections for Moscow mayor and governors across Russia were scrapped in 2004.
Sobyanin was head of the presidential administration under first Putin and then Medvedev from 2005-2008. He also ran Medvedev's presidential election campaign in 2008.
The nomination for Moscow mayor has been watched closely ahead of the 2012 presidential elections, and it seems likely that the appointment of Sobyanin will strengthen Putin's position should he make a bid to return to the Kremlin.
Medvedev sacked long-serving mayor Yury Luzhkov on September 28, citing a "loss of trust." State media had previously accused him and his businesswoman wife of massive corruption.
Sobyanin, who was born in and is a former governor of the Siberian oil-rich Tyumen Region, said after his nomination that he would focus on issues including transport and corruption if he becomes mayor.
Medvedev told him at a meeting on Friday that the future mayor of Moscow and his team should be "completely integrated with the federal authorities." This he said would ensure "trust."
Sergei Mitrokhin, the leader of the opposition Yabloko party, said it would be hard for Sobyanin to win over Muscovites.
"As regards support from Muscovites, it will be very hard for Sobyanin. First of all, he is not a Muscovite, secondly, he was appointed from above," he said.
Mitrokhin also said he believed Sobyanin would follow orders from the federal authorities, unlike the independent ex-mayor Luzhkov.
MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti)
