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Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin told the ITAR-TASS news agency: "I think that she has all the necessary qualities and when the (IMF) board of directors votes, we will support her candidacy. She will be able to make this key international organization more dynamic and assure its future reform."

Lagarde's appointment will cap a tumultuous period for the IMF, currently led by Strauss-Kahn's deputy John Lipsky, who was planning to retire before Strauss-Kahn's arrest.

Lagarde, 55, led the Chicago-based law firm Baker & McKenzie before entering French politics in 2005. She will be the first woman to head the IMF.