GENEVA, January 23 (RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Andriyanova) - Direct foreign investment in the Russian economy more than doubled in 2005 to $26.1 billion from $12.5 billion in 2004, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report Monday.

The country accounted for almost half of the $50 billion in foreign investment recipient into the whole region covering Southeast Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the report said.

High world oil and natural gas prices facilitated the inflow of investment in the region, the report said. Major deals included China National Petroleum Corporation's purchase of Kazakhstan's PetroKazakhstan for $4.2 billion.

The global inflow of direct foreign investment rose by 29% in 2005, year-on-year, to $897 billion.

For the first time since 1977, Great Britain turned into the largest recipient of foreign investment ($219 billion), mainly through the merger of the two halves of oil major Shell - Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the UK-listed Shell Transport and Trading Company - followed by the United States ($106 billion) and China ($60.3 billion), the report said.

Direct foreign investment rose by 76% to $408 billion in the old EU countries and by 36% to a record high of $38 billion in the newly admitted EU states.

Direct foreign investment in developing countries rose by 13% in 2005 to a record high level of $274 billion, the report said.