Azarov's appointment as prime minister was endorsed by 242 votes in the 450-member assembly. It followed the announcement of a new ruling coalition led by Yanukovich's Regions Party, the Ukrainian press reported. Fedir Yaroshenko was appointed to the position of finance minister and Vasyl Tsushko became economy minister.
Before the vote, parliament speaker Volodymyr Litvyn announced that a new alliance of 235 deputies from the 450-member parliament had been formed.
"The coalition has been formed on the basis of an agreement signed by heads of the factions of the Regions Party, the Communist Party, the Litvyn bloc and the People's Party," Litvyn said.
Azarov, seen as a safe pair of hands but no radical reformer, told parliament after his nomination that his government's main task would be to redraft and win approval for a "realistic" 2010 budget.
"The country has been plundered, the coffers are empty, and state debt has risen threefold," he said.
The president, whose victory tilted the former Soviet republic back towards Russia, nominated former Navy commander Mykhailo Yezhel as defence minister and Ukrainian Ambassador to Moscow Kostyantyn Khryshchenko, as foreign minister.
Battered by the economic downturn, Ukraine needs a new government to adopt a delayed 2010 budget and restart talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a suspended $16.4 billion bail-out package.
The IMF will be watching closely how the government handles the budget, after a series of broken spending promises - backed by Yanukovich's Regions Party - derailed the bail-out package.
Formation of a new coalition following Yanukovich's victory had been necessary to avoid snap elections.
Tymoshenko's departure as prime minister marks the end of five years of rule by the leadership which emerged from the 2004 pro-Western 'Orange Revolution'.
Azarov would give Yanukovich a reliable ruling partner after the infighting between Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko.
But he continues to face a divided country of 46 million people - split between a Russian-leaning south and east, and a west and centre inclined more to the West.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
