"The Rada [parliament] secretariat has received Viktor Yanukovych's candidacy," Vasily Tsushko said, adding that the president had made the right choice.
Yushchenko took a significant step toward resolving the country's protracted political crisis early Thursday by backing his long-time rival and the parliamentary majority's choice for the prime minister's job.
"I decided to nominate Yanukovych as prime minister," Yushchenko said after consultations with Yanukovych and parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz, who also leads the Socialist Party in the anti-crisis coalition with Regions and the Communists.
The anti-crisis coalition nominated Yanukovych for prime minister in July. Yushchenko had to back Yanukovych's nomination on Wednesday or decide to dissolve the Surpeme Rada, a move which former premier Yulia Tymoshenko and current leader of the opposition had supported.
