The head of a Russian fund that says it promotes the development of small oil and gas producers was shot dead on Tuesday in southwest Moscow, the Reuters news agency reports.

Zelimkhan Magomedov, 50, general director of the National Oil Institute Fund, was shot twice in the head.

The Web site of the institute says it is a non-commercial organisation founded in 2003 and works to foster development of small and medium-sized oil and gas producers.

A woman who responded to a telephone call at the National Oil Institute but would not identify herself by name declined to comment on the incident.

Killings of high-ranking officials and public figures, reminiscent of Russia’s wild capitalism of the 1990s, have again become a grim reality in the past few months.

Deputy Central Bank Chairman Andrei Kozlov was shot on Sept. 14 and died of his wounds in what investigators and politicians said was a contract killing for his professional work.

MosNews