Penza, 11 March 2014. PenzaNews. The Penza, Pskov and Khakassia regions divided 69-71 positions in the communication rating of Russian regions in the leading English language media, compiled by analytical agency “Smyslographia” and the company Dow Jones as of the end of 2013.

According to the study, the Penza region moved three positions lower in comparison with 2012.

Rating compilation methodology includes both quantitative and qualitative processing references of the regions in the top 100 of the leading English language media. Total score assigned to each region includes an assessment of the region both in the number of references, and the share of favorable publications. Yet Moscow is excluded from the overall rating.

According to the study, the total score of the Penza region is 49, while the leader of the list — the Sakhalin region — received 144 points.

“The rating shows that the range of regional leaders is quite stable. Geographically, the western media reviews both border areas — Primorsky Krai, the Sakhalin, Kaliningrad regions — and the regions situated deep in the country — the Perm region, Tatarstan,” the director of the analytical department of “Smyslographia” Gregory Kislin commented on the results.

According to him, Udmurtia demonstrates a curious tendency, it rises a few dozen positions up the second year in a row.

“This is partly due to the death of Mikhail Kalashnikov — the creator of the world-famous weapon, which caused resonance in the world. I wonder if Udmurtia will be able to keep its position in 2014? If it settles at least in the second ten of the rating, it will be considered a full-scale breakthrough,” he said.

As news agency PenzaNews reported earlier, the Penza region received 46 points in 2012 and shared 66-67th positions with the Kirov region.