BERLIN, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Russia is planning to spend big bucks to try to woo back millions of ethnic Germans who once lived in the former Soviet Union.
Originally invited to Russia during the 18th century, some 2.3 million ethnic Germans have left Russia for Germany since 1991, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Monday.
Russian officials said they plan to spend more than $110 million to lure them back mainly by investing in industrial centers in Western Siberia and the Volga region.
Deutsche Welle said Berlin welcomed efforts to aid Russia's dwindling ethnic German community said to number about 600,000.
However, attempts to plug labor shortages by wooing back former citizens living in Germany has met with a less enthusiastic response.
A spokesman for the German government has said Germany won't provide financial or moral support to ethnic Germans wishing to move back to Russia.
According to a U.N. study, Russia will need 2 million immigrants during the next decade to maintain economic growth.
