The 35-year-old Kiriyenko, who was rejected twice earlier by the state Duma, breezed through with 251 votes, much above the required 226 mark to secure his confirmation in the third and final vote. Twenty-five deputies voted against him in the 450-member chamber.

Chairman of the Duma voting committee Igor Bratischev said 315 deputies had taken voting cards in the secret vote but only 276 deputies actually cast their ballot.

The deputies had earlier decided to hold a secret ballot in the crunch vote, a move which had been expected to improve the young technocrat's chances of clearing the confirmation hurdle.

A Kremlin communique later said Yeltsin formally appointed Kiriyenko as full-time Prime Minister. For Kiriyenko,who sat nervously in the wings listening to a heated debate on his candidacy, the result was a massive improvement on the 115 votes he won on a second round ballot a week ago and the 143 votes in the first ballot on April 10. ``I understand that for many deputies, this decision requires a lot of courage,'' Kiriyenko saidimmediately after his selection.

The Communist and the liberal Yabloko movement stood firm in their opposition at today's Duma session.

The vote ended a month-long crisis which began when Yeltsin, 67, sacked veteran prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his entire cabinet on March 23 and plucked Kiriyenko from relative obscurity to revitalise market economy.

Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov had earlier raised a major threat to Kiriyenko's hopes at the start of a heated debate. But the secret ballot tipped the scales in Kiriyenko's favour.

Despite the high stakes, Yeltsin did not attend the debate.A third rejection would have forced Yeltsin to dissolve the Duma and call for freshelections and appoint his choice of premier regardless.