Weak Ruble Hits Russian Hospitals

By The Moscow Times

July 1, 2016

Russian hospitals are being hit by the economic crisis as the weak ruble pushes up the cost of medical equipment, the TASS news agency reported.

?€?Today?€™s Russian medicine is 80 percent dependent on imports,?€? said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, at a session aimed to discuss the new opportunities for the Russian healthcare industry.

?€?[Before the crisis], we used to have enough money allocated to purchase all the necessary equipment, but the exchange rate was different. Now, everything became twice as expensive,?€? Rogozin said, TASS reported.

Western currencies have risen significantly against the ruble amid falling oil prices and anti-Russia sanctions. In March 2016, the ruble had devalued more than 50 percent against the dollar since July 2014.

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