The Chechen Government has said doctors treating its prime minister and acting president have confirmed he has been poisoned. A government statement says doctors diagnosed Anatoly Popov with "poisoning from an unknown toxin. "He is currently in one of Chechnya's hospitals and will soon be taken to Moscow. He is in serious condition," the statement said. The incident comes a week before the troubled Russian republic's elections. At 15:20 Moscow time Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Magomed Vakhayev - who is in charge of the region's social sector - is most likely to be appointed acting prime minister during Popov's sickness, according to government sources quoted by Interfax news agency. The pro-Moscow Popov is not a candidate in the forthcoming elections. The Kremlin-backed candidate, Akmad Kadyrov, is widely expected to win the presidential poll since all the other major candidates have either been barred or have withdrawn from the race. Until last month, Kadyrov was head of the Chechen administration - he stepped down to run in the elections. Popov was taken ill after opening a section of a gas pipeline in the eastern district of Gudermes on Saturday. He was later rushed to hospital in the town of Khakala. In 2000, Iman Umar Idrisov, a Muslim religious leader in Chechnya who supported the pro-Moscow administration, was executed in his home with two shots to the head. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A television still shows Anatoly Popov, acting President of Chechnya, during a meeting with media in Chechen capital Grozny on August 26, 2003. (REUTERS/Reuters TV)