Second Banker at Russia's VTB Bank Dies in a Month

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A second banker at Russia's state-run VTB bank has died in unexplained circumstances in less than a month, Russian media reported on Monday.

Tvoy Den newspaper said Alexander Funin, a mid-level manager, had been found shot dead in his flat's bathroom and holding a pistol.

RIA Novosti news agency quoted a police source as saying investigators believe Funin had most likely "accidentally shot himself in the head," but other versions were also being studied.

A VTB (VTBRq.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) official told Reuters Funin had died, but declined further comments.

The death of Funin follows that of Oleg Zhukovsky, another VTB manager, who was found with his arms and legs bound in a swimming pool of his luxury home in early December.

The death of Zhukovsky, who headed VTB's lending operations in Russia's $19 billion a year logging industry, evoked the ruthless business climate of the 1990s, when disputes were periodically resolved by assassinations and car bombs, tactics that have tapered off under President Vladimir Putin.

(Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov)