GORKI, October 16. /TASS/. The volume of foreign direct investment has almost doubled in the first half of 2017 in comparison with the same period in 2016, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council.

"Over the first half of the year, the volume of foreign direct investment more than doubled compared to the same period last year," Medvedev said without specifying the amount.

But he said that for the whole period of the Council’s work investments by the foreign companies that are members of the Council exceeded $165 bln.

According to the prime minister, now companies that are members of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments are implementing more than 20 investment projects in Russia in various sectors of the economy (from energy to digital economy).

"In all cases, it implies the launch or substantial modernization of production sites, creation of new capacities. New products emerge on the market. The total volume of investments for these projects is estimated at billions of rubles," he said.