BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - The former head of Slovakia‘s gas industry and one time economy minister Ján Ducký was found shot dead outside his home in Bratislava on Monday, a police officer told Reuters. "Ducký was shot dead by an unknown assassin at the entrance of his house at around 1300 local time," a police press aide said without elaboration. Ducký served as economy minister in former prime minister Vladimír Mečiar‘s government until mid-1996, resigning his post to head the state gas industry, Slovenský Plynársky Priemysel (SPP). He remained a deputy for Mečiar‘s HZDS party in the Slovak parliament until Mečiar was defeated in a general election last September. Mafia assassinations have become an increasingly regular feature of Slovak life since the fall of communism in 1989. It is not yet known whether Ducký had any enemies in the underworld. While at the Economy Ministry Ducký attracted heavy criticism from the opposition for alleged involvement in murky privatisation deals. As general director of SPP he was slammed for the terms of several deals he concluded with Russia‘s Gazprom. Ducký was sacked as SPP boss by the new government in November. Current Economy Minister Ľudovít Černák was recently reported as saying that a police investigation of Ducký‘s conduct at SPP was likely.