Viktor Zubkov, nominated for the post of Russian prime minister by President Vladimir Putin , said on Thursday that he does not rule out running for the post of president.

"If I do something on the prime minister's post, then this is not ruled out," Zubkov told journalists in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, when asked if he will run for the post of the head of state.

Putin nominated Zubkov, chief of a committee at the Russian anti-money laundering service Rosfinmonitoring, as candidate for prime minister on Wednesday, hours after he dissolved the government at the request of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

Russia's two acting first deputy prime ministers, Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, have been widely seen as leading contenders in the presidential election slated for next March.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2007)