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Given plunging oil prices and economic sanctions against Russia, the government claims that cutbacks in healthcare spending are necessary.
Indeed, the Russian economy is predicted to contract by 4% this year.43
Another driver for these cuts, however, is the dramatic increase in military spending and intervention.44
The government’s military spending has reached record high levels, at 3.1 trillion rubles per year, or about 50 billion USD.45
Military spending makes up 4.4% of Russia’s GDP, an increase from 2.6% in 2012, when Putin assumed the presidency, and now drains 34% of Russia’s total federal budget.40,46
Meanwhile, since the beginning of 2015 alone, the number of people below the poverty line has increased 3.1 million to 22.9 million, meaning that one in five Russian adults is now considered officially “poor.”47
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