Kiev: The newly elected Ukrainian parliament in its first session on Thursday decided to keep Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in his post but elected Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman as the speaker.

The two nominations were both proposed by the five-party coalition called "European Ukraine" which holds 302 of the 423 seats in the parliament, Xinhua reported.

They were approved by overwhelming majority. Yatsenyuk won the support of 341 lawmakers while Groysman gained 359 votes.

Yatsenyuk, a 40-year-old pro-West politician, economist and lawyer, had been widely expected to retain the post of prime minister after his People's Front party won the most seats in the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections.

Groysman, a 36 year-old former businessman, was elected into parliament as a candidate of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's bloc.

The next parliamentary session will be held Tuesday, during which lawmakers will decide on the composition of a new government.