Penza, 10 May 2016. PenzaNews. The Penza region has slightly dropped its standing in the April 2016 rating of regional social and political stability, but still remained in the maximum stability group, says the information published by “Petersburg Politics” foundation.

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Based on the information, the rating of the region decreased from 8.1 to 8 points, compared to the average countrywide regional social and political stability rating of 6.2.

The list of events that positively affected the Penza region’s standing features: the inclusion of PenzaMolInvest enterprise in the list of companies certified by Rosselkhoznadzor to export turkey meat to the European Union; the test launch of the new DAMATE Group animal feed factory in the Nizhny Lomov area; and the talks between the regional governor Ivan Belozertsev and the Chinese Jiangxi province delegation on forming a joint agricultural enterprise.

The negative events that negatively affected the experts’ evaluation of the region included: the resignation of the Shemysheyka area administration head Anatoly Teptsov on governor’s orders; the claims by Lyudmila Kolomytseva, Penza civil activist, All-Russian People’s Front expert, follower of “A Just Russia” party’s course and assistant editor-in-chief of “Novaya Sotsialnaya Gazeta,” that her TV show “Checked. Communal Services Front” on the Express TV channel had been taken off air for ideological reasons; the listing of the “Valentin Manuylov” non-commercial publishing house in the list of foreign agents; and the CPRF public rally in Penza with demands for the Russian government to resign.

Moreover, the experts highlighted the results of the PenzaNews website poll held on 15-29 April 2016, according to which almost a quarter of Penza region voters plan to vote for United Russia or None each, and 33% more for the Communist Party during the upcoming State Duma election.

The “Petersburg Politics” foundation rating is published every month since autumn of 2012. Its expert evaluate the level of social and political stability in all Russian regions on a 10-point scale.

The regions in the rating are sorted by their degree of social and political stability, and by their dynamic over the most recent month.