Vladimir Putin’s selection for Russia’s next prime minister is a loyal technocrat seen as a capable placeholder while the Russian president plans for his political succession.

Mikhail Mishustin, 53, is the head of Russia’s tax service, credited with bringing digital tools to revolutionise the agency and help it crack down on tax evasion.

His nomination came on Wednesday as Putin embarked on a sweeping reshuffle of the country’s leadership. Mishustin met Putin in the Kremlin where the Russian president “suggested to him that he take the post of the head of government” which he accepted, the Kremlin said.

He will face a vote of approval in the Russian parliament within a week, which is almost certain to pass.

Mishustin, a graduate of the Stankin Moscow State Technological University, has headed the tax service since being appointed by Putin in 2010, and also worked for the agency in the 1990s.

He has also worked as the president of an investment company and as the head of a laboratory for a Moscow-based computer company.

A recent profile of Mishustin in the Financial Times called him the “taxman of the future” and credited him with developing a real-time system “directed more at shopkeepers than oligarchs.”

Mishustin is not thought to be among the likely candidates to be Putin’s eventual replacement, who have largely included powerful officials known to be longtime allies of the president, including city heads, members of his presidential administration, and even former bodyguards.