Below is the translation of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s comment on Vedomosti article about the healthcare situation in Russia from his personal Facebook page.

“In my first article for Medium, I wrote that 70% of Russians are dissatisfied with state of the country’s healthcare system: https://medium.com/@khodorkovsky/россия-будет-открытой-cba1eb0c3791

Today, Vedomosti tried to explain why the insurance model never did end up working. Interestingly enough, the first reason for this is cited as being Russia’s poorly developed network of cities, which I also mention in the Medium article, with the author going on to discuss the underdevelopment of social institutions:

[Russia’s] territory is vast and very unevenly populated, with a low population density and a poorly developed network of cities connected by an inefficient transportation system.

While the average inter-city distance in European Russia is 30-50 km, it is 300-500 km in the Asian part of the country; a mere 95 of Russia’s 1108 cities have a population of 200,000 people or more. Its economy is undiversified and its job market unstable, with a predominantly under- and informally employed population, and even those in work generally have low creditworthiness.

The level of political culture in Russia is low, its public institutions immature, its various population groups apparently incapable of negotiating with each other, with closeness to the government a key factor in competition.

We’re going to deal with the healthcare question within the framework of our programme for the future, which we’re currently formulating. If you know your way around this issue, write to us at future@openrussia.org with a few words about yourself.”