Russia plans to prepare an official international ranking of higher education institutions, including universities in the CIS, BRICS and SCO countries, by June 2015, the Russian Government said Tusday.

      “The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia together with the interested federal executive bodies and organizations ought to organize the production of the international rankings of higher education institutions, including those of the CIS, BRICS and SCO countries, providing measures to ensure international recognition of such ratings. The results should be reported to the government by May 25, 2015,” the government said on its website.

      The idea for the rankings was based on instructions given by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a State Council meeting earlier this month on priority national projects. Medvedev also noted the importance to be objective while putting Russian universities into the top 100.

      Currently, 40 leading Russian universities are participating in the National Priority Project “Education,” including two leading traditional universities with special legal status, nine federal universities, and 29 national research universities. According to the Cabinet of Ministers’ press office, they are fulfilling more than 300 educational programs and 262 collaborative education programs.