Everybody has heard of Potemkin villages. They say that during Catherine the Great’s era, many villages were ordered built by Grigory Potemkin in which the only thing real was the facade. Viewed from the front, it seems as though there is a village. But in reality it is impossible to live in it.

Judging by both personal experience and the research I’ve done, the same thing can be observed in contemporary Russia with the construction of roads. The extremely poor state of Russia’s roadways has garnered a fair amount of international attention in recent weeks. In one article I came across, the author writes that “where heavy demand exists, private companies build toll roads (e.g. the Moscow to St.-Petersburg route). These are already sprouting where traffic flows are heavy and are of much better quality than the state projects. Only people who use these private roads will have to pay for their upkeep, instead of the all-Russian taxpayer. Likewise, where there is little demand for roads, such as the symbolic but unprofitable trans-Siberian route, capitalists will not waste capital.” In principle, the author is right. But not about everything. We should never underestimate Russia’s ability to waste capital.