MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - President Boris Yeltsin met
acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on Monday, hours after
dismissing the four-month-old government of Sergei Kiriyenko,
the Kremlin press service said.
"The meeting started at 11 a.m. (0700 GMT)," a spokeswoman
told Reuters by telephone, giving no further details. Earlier on
Monday Yeltsin had asked parliament to confirm Chernomyrdin, a
veteran ally, as permanent prime minister.
Yeltsin sacked Kiriyenko's cabinet on Sunday evening without
explanation.
Russia is fighting a severe economic crisis that has forced
an effective rouble devaluation and a 90-day moratorium on debt
repayments. Kiriyenko's team recently clinched an emergency
funding deal with international lenders worth a total of $22.6
billion to help avert financial collapse.
Chernomyrdin, 60, served Yeltsin loyally for more than five
years until his abrupt dismissal in March. The president said he
had failed to push market reforms with sufficient vigour.
Yeltsin now faces a tough battle persuading the State Duma,
Russia's Communist-dominated lower house of parliament, to
approve Chernomyrdin's appointment.
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