Foreign investment in Russia declined 29.9%, year-on-year, in the first quarter to $17.3 billion, the country's top statistics body said on Wednesday.

Adidas is shifting its manufacturing operation away from China because of rising labour costs, according to the company’s head. It comes as the German sportswear manufacturer targets huge growth in the Russian market.

Russia's new Superjet 100 medium-haul passenger airliner made its first test flight on Monday, a spokesman for manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said.

Russia could soon invest its oil billions in direct overseas investments if its national welfare fund gets more freedom about how it's used. To this end, the Finance Ministry's debt department will prepare more liberal investment mechanisms by October.

Russia wants to increase bilateral trade with Mongolia to $1 billion by 2010, a source in the Kremlin said.

The Eurasian Development Bank (EADB) has expressed interest in a project by Russian electricity export-import operator Inter RAO UES for electricity deliveries to China, a bank spokesman said.