Russian investigators say two top public notaries for the Moscow region have been shot dead near the capital.

A spokesman for the general-prosecutor office’s investigative staff, Vladimir Markin, says the men were shot in the head and died late Thursday in the town of Solnechnogorsk on Moscow’s northern outskirts.

Markin has identified the victims as Vladimir Chelyshev, chairman of Moscow region’s Notary Chamber, and its executive director, Oleg Petrinsky.

Markin said Friday that investigators believe the killings were linked to the victims’ professional activities.

Contract killings still occur regularly in Russia, where business conflicts often turn violent and the government is seeking closer control over economic activity.