After Yeltsin's bid to reinstate Viktor Chernomyrdin as Prime Minister was blocked by the State Duma in September 1998, the President turned to Primakov as a compromise figure whom he rightly judged would be accepted by the parliament's majority. As Prime Minister, Primakov was given credit for forcing some very difficult reforms in Russia; most of them, such as the tax reform, became major successes. Following the 1998 harvest, which was the worst in 45 years, coupled with a plummeting ruble, one of Primakov's first actions as Prime Minister, in October 1998, was to appeal to the United States and Canada for food aid, while also appealing to the European Union for economic relief.