MOSCOW. Sept 14 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's remark to the effect that Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov might run for president does not necessarily mean that Putin suggested that he would like to view Zubkov as his successor, Political Research Institute Director Sergei Markov said.

"It has long been rumored that Sergei Ivanov, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Yakunin, or Sergei Naryshkin would ascend to the presidency, and now Viktor Zubkov should probably be added to this list. I believe two or maybe even three of them will run, and several people will enjoy Putin's indirect support, but no one will be able to monopolize this support," Markov told Interfax on Friday.

Alexei Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center also said Putin's remark concerning Zubkov's presidency did not mean that Zubkov was viewed as a successor.

"I was also surprised by what was said about the government. Didn't anyone know about Zurabov before? And now it turns out half an hour before elections that a number of ministers worked badly. There is another contradiction: (ex-Prime Minister Mikhail) Fradkov was decorated with an order immediately after his resignation, and now it turns out that half of the Cabinet members worked badly," Malashenko said.