Russian Foreign Direct Investment Tops $40 Billion

Russian foreign direct investment surged to more than $40 billion in the first nine months of the year, said Igor Shuvalov, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign direct investment last year totaled $30 billion, Shuvalov told a conference in Moscow today.

Russia's economic boom is driving investment and gross domestic product may increase more than 7.7 percent this year, up from 6.7 percent last year, he said.

The government this year will approve a bill regulating foreign investment in strategic sectors to establish ``order, clearly defined by law,'' Shuvalov said. Russian limits on foreign investment in strategic industries should mirror restrictions on Russian investment abroad, he said.

The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, on Sept. 14 approved in the first of three required votes a bill on foreign investment in strategic sectors. The draft, subject to revision, applies to deals that would give a foreign company a majority stake in 39 industries, including aerospace and defense.