Penza, 10 October 2014. PenzaNews. The analysts have listed the main social and political events in the Penza region during the September 2014 that influenced the region’s position in the All-Russian rating compiled by “Petersburg Politics” fund.

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Among other things, the region’s position was positively affected by the signed agreement between the Penza region and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, as well as the memorandum of agreement in poultry breeding between the regional government and LR Group company.

Moreover, the rating benefited from the opening of a DAMATE Group cheese production facility in Belinsky, as well as the creation of a family cattle farm discussion union under the Penza regional government.

The analysts also highly valued the Alexander Pochinok award the region received for the prison inmate social rehabilitation program.

Yet another positive event, according to them, was the fact that Fitch Ratings international agency improved the outlook of the Penza region from Stable to Positive.

At the same time, the analysts singled out several factors that had negative impact on the region’s position in the All-Russian rating.

Among them are the dismissal of Andrei Baev from the deputy chairman office in the regional government only a week after he had been appointed; reports on searches in the offices of Lyudmila Kipurova, first deputy head of the Penza administration, and her assistants; as well as the verdict on the notorious traffic accident lawsuit, in which the chairman of Penza branch of Opora Rossii group Oleg Totsky, who received prison sentence, saw an attempt to exact revenge against him for his public stance.

Among the events that were reviewed by the experts but did not affect the rating were Vasily Bochkarev’s demand to send SMS warnings to the overweight government officials; the head of the region’s appeal to the United Russia deputees with a demand to stop robbing the population; as well as the registration of the regional Progress Party branch.

As a result, the Penza region, just as a month ago, reached 8.4 points in the rating, getting the 6th place among the most socially and politically stable regions.

The leading Russian subject in the list is the Tambov region with 8.5 points. Among other leaders are the Republic of Komi, the Ivanovo region, Kamchatsky Krai and the Chukot Autonomous Area.

According to Mikhail Vinogradov, the president of “Petersburg politics,” the overall economic background for September, unlike the political landscape, can hardly be seen as convenient for the heads of the regions.

“The decline of ruble, increasing sensitivity of certain production industries to the sanctions from abroad, increasingly blurring paths of economic development, debates on possible closure for several social initiatives — all this makes the subjects of the Russian Federation vulnerable to the changes of the All-Russian economical atmosphere. From this point of view, relatively low-level and less-integrated subjects (Tambov, Ivanovo, Belgorod, and Penza regions, among with several other areas of the Central Russia and the Volga region) again have an opportunity to reach the first places in the stability rating. Their economy is less affected by the risks from the sanctions and credit access reduction, and their politics are shielded from the external (and often internal) players due to the relatively low attractiveness of control over their regional assets,” he remarked.

Mikhail Vinogradov also added that such regions will more likely not see a sharp decrease in the quality of life since the profits of its population are relatively low, while the officially supported import replacement projects may even bring an inflow of investments or at least federal subsidies in these regions of Russia.

The rating by the fund “Petersburg politics” is published monthly since autumn 2012. It assesses the level of socio-political stability of all regions of Russia.

The level of stability is determined by experts of the fund on a 10-point-scale.

The rating divides the regions into four categories according to the degree of socio-political stability and dynamics based on the events of the past month.