Vladimir Panskov's appointment as finance minister Friday sparked controversy among ministers and legislators, as the new appointee's personal history cast doubt on his credentials.


His 25-year service record at the Soviet Finance Ministry and his 5-month stay at Lefortovo prison last year on bribetaking charges gave rise to wariness among reformists. Economics Minister Alexander Shokhin announced his resignation minutes after he heard of Panskov's appointment, while top law enforcers were reported to have warned President Boris Yeltsin against the appointment.


But former colleagues had nothing bad to say about Panskov, 50, whose career in government started as soon as he graduated from Moscow Finance Institute in 1965 and has only been interrupted by his stint as a prisoner.


"He is an ultraprofessional, a man of character and strong will," said Alexander Pochinok, deputy head of the State Duma's budget committee. "He is the kind of man whose appointment all factions will approve, but when he starts working he is not going to try and please everyone."


Pochinok helped make Panskov the chief of staff for his committee as soon as he was released from jail in July, 1993, the charges dropped by the Public Prosecutor's Office. Neither Pochinok nor other Russian financiers put much stock in the charges brought against him, saying he was framed to prevent his rise to top government posts.


As for the charges themselves, versions of what actually happened differ. Shokhin said he had heard that Panskov had been apprehended while accepting a bribe of several kilograms of sausage.


But Pochinok said the charges involved a car that Panskov's son was allowed to buy cheaply in exchange for a favor from Panskov Senior., who was first deputy chairman of the State Tax Service at the time.


"His office was bugged for eight months, all his visitors were screened, he was practically X-rayed," Pochinok said. "And if the investigation did not turn up enough to prosecute him, he is a paragon among our top officials."


A Tax Service official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Panskov's arrest caused "dismay" in the service.


"He was popular at the service both for his work and personal qualities, and the arrest did not change that," the official said.


However, reports in the Russian press suggest that Panskov's case is not that clear cut. The newspaper Segodnya reported Thursday that the Public Prosecutor's Office was looking into the case again and that Public Prosecutor Alexei Ilyushenko and counterintelligence chief Sergei Stepashin had sent Yeltsin a letter warning him against appointing Panskov.


Novoye Vremya magazine reported earlier this year that Ilyushenko publicly voiced doubt whether charges against Panskov should have been dropped.


In Soviet times, Panskov served as deputy finance minister under Valentin Pavlov, who later helped plot the abortive 1991 coup. He then became an adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned for his indecisive economic policy. But despite this and his imprisonment, even his opponents do not doubt his professional qualifications.


"Everybody agrees that Vladimir Panskov has a lot of experience in working with budgets and that he is an expert on taxes," Shokhin said.


Shokhin told reporters Thursday that he was unhappy with an evaluation of the draft 1995 budget, prepared by the finance department of Yeltsin's staff, where Panskov has worked until now.


However, Pochinok said he was sure Panskov would endorse the tight budget and follow it.