(AP) -- President Boris Yeltsin named a prominent liberal Tuesday to take charge of Russia's ravaged economy, apparently turning his back on the candidate proposed by his new prime minister. Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin immediately moved to stanch speculation that he had lost his first round of Kremlin infighting. But Russian media took the appointment of Mikhail Zadornov as a slap at Stepashin. Yeltsin, vacationing in the southern resort town of Sochi, promoted Zadornov, who had been finance minister, to the more important position of first deputy prime minister in charge of the economy and finance. He appointed Mikhail Kasyanov as finance minister. As first deputy finance minister, Kasyanov had been Russia's point man in efforts to persuade Western lenders to reschedule some of the country's massive Soviet-era debt. Stepashin had wanted Zadornov to remain finance minister, and wanted his own protege, moderate lawmaker Alexander Zhukov, to become first deputy prime minister. Zhukov's candidacy was believed to have been opposed by Boris Berezovsky, a millionaire businessman who is said to hold extraordinary sway over Yeltsin. Communists, who remain the most dominant force in parliament, criticized the Zadornov appointment as a victory for the widely despised Berezovsky. ``It is such an obviously dirty, under-the-carpet game that I do not want to say anything on this score,'' Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. In the previous government of Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, the top economic official was a Communist. Stepashin dismissed the notion that he had been pressured into accepting appointments he didn't want. ``We work as a single team, and we have discussed all the (Cabinet) candidacies over the weekend,'' he said. ``It would be untrue to say that somebody is pressuring somebody else in making appointments.'' In the past, Yeltsin has been accused of purposely creating rivalries in his Cabinets in order to strengthen his own grip on power. The resulting intrigues have weakened the government and contributed to the country's woes. Zadornov, who favors a market-oriented economy, served as finance minister in three previous governments and has taken part in talks with the International Monetary Fund on crucial new loans needed to help pay off Russia's huge foreign debts. Zadornov said Tuesday his promotion would help implement the agreements with the IMF. The IMF has made the new loans conditional on Russia's parliament passing a package of austerity bills to boost state revenues. The bills face heavy opposition from hard-liners in the parliament's lower house, the State Duma. -=-=- 