“Everything is ready” for Boris Yeltsin’s heart operation, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said Saturday as the president’s doctors prepared to fix an exact date for the surgery.

The six-to-eight-hour coronary artery bypass operation is likely to take place this week, although Russian newspapers say Kremlin officials are being secretive to avoid a media circus and political intrigues.

The American consultant on the case, Dr. Michael DeBakey, is expected to arrive in Moscow today to discuss the operation with Yeltsin’s doctors.

The renowned cardiologist left for Russia Saturday afternoon, a spokesman for DeBakey told the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Yeltsin, 65, has been ailing for months. In his absence from his Kremlin office, power struggles, intrigues and even rumors of possible coups have dominated Russian politics.

A stream of daily statements, decrees and decisions flow from the Kremlin in Yeltsin’s name in an effort to show he remains in charge. Until last week, when doctors told Yeltsin to abstain from meetings and other work, he was shown on TV for at least a few seconds every night.

Yeltsin’s wife Naina appeared on Russia’s Public Television on Saturday to back the Kremlin’s case.