Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Chapter 45, medical treatment is a big problem

Nicholas II wants a loan? Ferdinand asked in surprise

Queen Xenia answered affirmatively: Yes!

Ferdinand asked with some puzzlement: Why don't you go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or go directly to the bank?

Xenia looked at him with very aggrieved eyes, and then said after a while: If it is useful to find them? Will my arrogant brother find you?

Ferdinand smiled embarrassedly. He recalled that it seemed that the decision not to provide loans to the Russians had been reported to him by the cabinet.

Then what is he going to use as collateral? Don't talk about mineral resources. These things can't convince the cabinet. Ten billion levs is not a small amount. The risk of this business is too great! Nan shrugged and said

Queen Xenia nodded and said, I don't know. You'd better talk to him about this issue in person. It's inconvenient for me to be caught in the middle!

Ferdinand nodded. Indeed, on this issue, Queen Xenia's identity was inconvenient to intervene.

Okay then, let Nikolai send a representative to discuss it. Such a large loan is not easy for the government to handle!

Queen Xenia nodded. Everyone knows this question. International loans in this era are always linked to politics. Large loans are almost impossible to pass without government endorsement.

Unless the royal family is willing to lend its own money to Nicholas II, then no one can control it. Through bank loans, this involves the safety of depositors' funds, and the government must supervise them.

It is impossible for the royal family to directly lend money to Nicholas II. If this is a default, who will you turn to?

Ferdinand is not stupid, the relative relationship between the two parties is not suitable for the interview conditions.

Whether it is the Bulgarian government or its own bank, it is more suitable to negotiate the conditions for business affairs. As long as there is enough collateral, it does not matter whether Nicholas II can afford the loan or not!

Queen Xenia also knew that as long as Ferdinand did not object in Bulgaria, the possibility of the loan being approved is very high. The civil relations between Bulgaria and Russia have always been very good, and there are also pro-Russian factions in the government. As long as the interests are guaranteed, everyone will not object to this loan!

Since the domestic stock market has not developed, ordinary Bulgarians have no other investment channels except depositing their money in the bank. Therefore, the deposits of the three major Bulgarian banks exceed that of any bank in the world!

This is also Bulgaria's ten-year plan, the most important source of funds. Many government-invested projects were sold to banks after the cabinet changed hands.

For example, companies in power plants and steel mills, although they are in the name of government investment, and at the same time allow private capital to enter the industry, the cabinet naturally does not mind packaging them to the three major banks.

Ferdinand didn't mind approving this loan, and there was another important reason. Nicholas II borrowed Lev, and they had to import goods from Bulgaria when they got the loan.

The export of a large amount of goods is beneficial to the development of domestic industry and commerce. Through the export of its subsidiaries, in fact, the loan has been reflowed again. The loan of 10 billion levs is actually only half of the risk he has taken, or is smaller!

...

The next day, Ferdinand went to the parliament as usual, and the host, Rolex Dodd, was still performing there. !

The weather is good today, so let's start the meeting! Today's topic is health care, and this issue may be familiar to everyone. The American flu that just passed is enough to illustrate the importance of health care!

The Ministry of Health has submitted 26 plans this time, involving a total investment of 1.35 billion leva (about £54 million).

Article 1. Establish epidemic prevention stations across the country. The work of epidemic prevention stations includes emergency disease prevention, infectious disease prevention, and pest control. The estimated total investment is 130 million levs;

Article 2. To upgrade the equipment of the Food Safety Supervision Bureau, and to increase the crackdown on unqualified food, with an estimated investment of 85 million levs;

Article 3. Establish the Drug Supervision Bureau to supervise the drugs circulating on the market, vigorously crack down on the influx of counterfeit and substandard drugs into the market, and endanger the safety of the people. It is estimated that 70 million levs will be invested;

Article 4. To upgrade the equipment of public hospitals, it is estimated that 100 million levs will be invested;

Article 5. The Ministry of Health has decided to implement free lifelong medical care for all retired officers and soldiers. This is an expansion of the free medical treatment for disabled officers and soldiers on the battlefield that we have implemented before. It is estimated that 380 million levs will be invested;

Article 6. To lay out township hospitals across the country. Within ten years, we will have a hospital in every town, with an estimated investment of 180 million pounds;

...

Question time is up, raise your hand if you have any questions!

Well, second gentleman in the third row, please ask!

The man said with some trepidation: Dear Mr. Carr, has the Ministry of Health ever considered free medical care for the whole country? You must know that people all over the country are now facing the problem of difficult and expensive medical treatment, and ordinary people simply cannot afford the huge medical expenses. !

Karl Landsteiner nodded and said: The question raised by this gentleman has been considered by the Ministry of Health for a long time, but unfortunately Bulgaria does not yet have the conditions for universal free medical care, and our finances cannot afford this expense.

According to the statistics of our Ministry of Health, in the first half of 1921, the national public spent 2.63 billion leva on medical care. This figure also includes many people who have given up medical treatment. If we want to provide comprehensive free medical care, it is a preliminary estimate. The annual cost will not be less than five billion leva!

This number can already make our government declare bankruptcy, so there is no possibility of promotion in the short term!

The man said unwillingly: Is there no way? For example, by raising taxes, our government can completely solve the funding gap by raising taxes!

Karl Landsteiner said with a wry smile: Sir, your economics is probably failing. If this tax is evenly distributed to every citizen, it would be 125 levs per person. On the surface, this number seems small, but in fact Most people can't afford it!

If it is added to the head of the enterprise, after the cost has risen sharply, the enterprise will lose its competitiveness in the world, and we will face the most serious bankruptcy wave, then the social crisis will be even more serious!

The man fell into silence, and the venue fell into a state of silence. It was not that the government did not want to solve it, but that there was no way to solve it. Face-to-face medical care is a long-term problem that requires a lot of investment every year. This problem was still in the early 20th century. Unsolved existence!

The host, Rolex Dodd, broke the silence and said: The problem of free medical care for the whole people, we have no way to solve it now, but it does not mean that there is no way to solve it in the future. This social problem has plagued the world for many years!

However, with the advancement of science and technology, our pharmaceutical costs are also greatly reduced. One day in the future, our country will always be able to solve it. Let's continue our meeting now!

Raise your hand when in doubt!

Second-to-last gentleman, please ask!

The man asked, Dear Mr. Carr, has the government considered setting up a pharmaceutical company by the state and promoting it to the market at a fair price, so as to reduce the price of medicines and allow more people to get treatment?

Karl Landsteiner thought for a while and said: The suggestion you put forward does not meet the conditions for implementation, there are two problems we cannot get around: the first problem - patent; the second problem is technological progress!

Once the government enters the pharmaceutical market, we also have to pay patent fees. At the same time, due to the reduction of pharmaceutical profits, many companies will lose their enthusiasm for continuing investment. To promote technological progress, the government can only invest in full, and these costs will be allocated to On the price of medicines!

In the end, we will find that the government has invested a lot of money, and as a result, the prices of medicines on the market still cannot fall, which is completely worth the loss!

And the function of the government is not charity, we cannot invest too much money in one field!

This world is still a world of the weak and the survival of the fittest. Don't look at the international peace now, I can let Nanshan go. In fact, the international conflicts are still severe, but they are temporarily suppressed!

We should be prepared for danger in times of peace. Remember that our ancestors once said: If war comes tomorrow, don't be surprised, don't panic, this is the Balkans!

Everyone's faces sank. The Balkans have always been a powder keg in Europe. It is the region with the most frequent wars in the world. In the past thousand years, there has been no war. On average, it is a region that claims to have wars every week!

It also brought some people's fantasy back to reality. Now Bulgaria is still not strong enough. Although the enemy has been beaten down, it does not mean that it does not exist!

The old will not go and the new will not come. Who can tell what will happen in the future? Ferdinand also fell into contemplation. Perhaps he was still too optimistic. Who is sure that the current international order will not be broken?

At least the colonies are a hidden danger. Of course, without the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union, the colonial independence movement has not yet begun. If it does not break out for 30 to 50 years, it does not mean that it will never break out. It seems that we should start planning for a rainy day?

...

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