A Russian businessman was killed on his way to work Wednesday by an unidentified gunman in what appeared to be an organized crime killing, according to news reports.
Yuri Zinin, the head of Sibneft Company was shot in the back as he walked out of his apartment building in the town of Leninsk-Kuzntesky in the Kemerovo region of central Siberia, Russian news agencies quoted local police as saying.
Zinin's company has the same name as one of Russia's largest oil producers, Sibneft, controlled by controversial business mogul Boris Berezovsky. But the two companies are separate.
Zinin's Sibneft was locally-based and mostly involved in selling oil products and coal. Kemerovo is one of Russia's main coal-mining regions.
Police launched a search for the killer who fled. Officials wouldn't comment on possible motives for the murder.
There are hundreds of contract murders in Russia every year as mobsters fight for control of profitable businesses. Only a small number of such killings are ever solved.
The small town of Leninsk-Kuznetsky became known nationwide last year, when the city mayor was arrested on tax fraud and embezzlement charges. Mayor Gennady Konyakhin, also accused of being linked to the mob, is in custody awaiting trial.
(vi/ren)