Human potential of Russia and reformation of the social sphere

The law on the reformation of the budget institutions changes radically the procedure of funding the institutions of social sphere. The article presents outcomes of the surveys conducted among heads of educational and health care establishments; consumers of educational and health services; regional officials in charge of education, health care and budget financial sphere. It shows that due to a serious underfunding of the social brunches and limited resources possessed by a significant part of the population, the new reform is not only far from improving the situation in education and health care, but it will lead to a further decline in affordability of these services for many Russian citizens.