Russian Industrialist, Driver Gunned Down in Urals City
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YEKATERINBURG, Russia — Two gunmen killed the general director of Uralmashzavod, one of Russia’s biggest machine-tool manufacturers, in an attack Monday in this Ural Mountains city.
The killing of Oleg Belonenko, 52, was one of the most high-profile slayings in the Russian business community. It came as Moscow is trying to show a strong hand in dealing with crime and corruption while attempting to woo investors to its aging industries.
Belonenko was shot outside the company dormitory, where he had been living, as he was getting into his car to go to work. He died during surgery, said Tatyana Stepanova, a spokeswoman for the police in Yekaterinburg, about 840 miles east of Moscow. The industrialist’s driver was wounded and also died in the hospital, she said.
After the shooting, witnesses saw two men in track suits with hoods running away, NTV television reported.
“Everyone should feel the danger,” Kakha Bendukidze, chief executive of Uralmash-Izhora Group, told reporters in Moscow. Uralmashzavod is a subsidiary of Bendukidze’s group.
Belonenko was named general director of Uralmashzavod in December after serving two years as deputy director.
In recent years, the huge plant has been a target of organized crime groups intent on winning control of Russian industry.
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