Russia is voting for a new prime minister on Friday, Viktor Zubkov, financial adviser and Russia’s lower house president’s nominee.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has surprised the government and nominated little known Zubkov, 65 for premier on Wednesday, three months before parliamentary and six months before presidential polls.

Experts say the nomination is designed to ensure the succession of power after the leader steps down.

If Zubkov does emerge as Russia's next president, the chances of Putin's eventual return to power appear to grow, analysts argue. As a man of advancing years, Zubkov will be 66 tomorrow, an age that exceeds the average Russian male's life expectancy by a decade - he is seen as a one-term president.

Putin is constitutionally forbidden from standing next March, having completed two four-year terms, but can stand again in 2012 if he wishes.

Zubkov, who has headed the Federal Financial Monitoring Service for the last six years and was Putin's deputy in the St. Petersburg mayor's office in the 1990s, will set out short-term government priorities to lawmakers at 12:30 Moscow time (8:30 a.m. GMT), and answer their questions before the vote.

His speech, a question-and-answer session, and the votes are expected to take 1.5 hours. All State Duma factions, except the Communists, voiced their support for the candidate after a four-hour consultation Thursday.

"We plan to back the candidacy of Viktor Zubkov unanimously," said Boris Gryzlov, State Duma chairperson and leader of the Kremlin-backed United Russia party's faction in the house, with Just Russia and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) members echoing his words.