Sergei Shilo was gunned down as he was returning home and died of his injuries in a local hospital, the city's chief of staff Nikolai Fedyanin said.

Shilo's driver, who had also been wounded in the attack, awaited surgery in the hospital's intensive care, Fedyanin added.

No further details were immediately known.

Russian politicians and businessmen alike are not immune from contract killings.

The governor of Russia's Far Eastern region of Magadan, Valentin Tsvetkov, was shot dead by unknown gunmen earlier this month in central Moscow.

(China Daily October 31, 2002)