October 24^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic visited today the Penitentiary Correctional Institute in Nis where a new tailoring and sewing facility was opened, so that inmates would be able to make clothes for other institutions of this type and clothing details for the Ministry of Justice. All inmates who work on some of the jobs are paid per working day, and based on the Law on Labor, twenty percent of the minimum wage in Serbia. At the moment, there are over 1500 inmates in the Nis Penitentiary Correctional Institute and this institution is one of the best in the country. Businessmen from Nis, who visited this facility today, were presented a range of products from this institute, which includes dozens of wood and metal items that could be used as furniture, decorative details or tools. The Institute also has its own printing houseand food production.

October 20^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic opened today the traditional October Meetings in social protection. This year the focus is on growing up in the world of modern technologies. “The fact that modern technology is progressing more and more every day is becoming our everyday life, it is impossible to expect that children can be isolated from computers or mobile phones”, the Mayor said. He added that the task of adults is to protect the rights of the child and to prevent any kind of child abuse. “As the local self-government we have to implement and support various social activities aimed at preventing and eradicating the bad phenomena brought by the world of modern technology. Timely social and institutional reaction, preventive and educational programs that include the activities of education, social protection, justice, civil sector and police, can deliver results,” said Mayor Bulatovic. “The local self-government must be actively involved in this issue and the City of Nis does its best to provide its contribution to the protection of the youngest population, through cross-sectoral activities, as well as participation in projects related to the protection of children. Our goal is for our children to grow up in a healthy and safe environment, and this is why we all need to give our maximum contribution”, said the Mayor Bulatovic.

October 20^th

Representatives of the Russian delegation from Rostov and the Kozak businessmen association met the Nis Deputy Mayor Prof. Dr. Milos Bandjur and his associates and discussed the potentials of Nis and the environment for the establishment of economic cooperation, especially in the field of agriculture. This is only the first in a series of meetings to be organized in order to connect Russian and Serbian agricultural producers in order to increase the export of domestic products to the Russian market, in accordance with the required standards. In our region, 60 000 households are engaged in agriculture. One third of the territory occupies agricultural land and most is under wheat, while only 12% is intended for fruit and vegetable production. Nis City Deputy Mayor Prof. Dr. Milos Bandjur said that the City of Nis was ready to support any form of cooperation with Russian businessmen. He added that the Russian delegation was informed about the potential of cooperation with our city, mostly in the field of agriculture, but also about the possibilities for cooperation in the processing of agricultural products and exports to Russia. The Deputy Mayor stressed that it was possible to improve cultural cooperation and emphasized the importance of spiritual connections between the two countries, but it was of paramount importance to extend these relations to the economy. One of the representatives of the Russian delegation, Mr. Vasilij Filipovic Hejlo, said that the goal of their arrival in Nis was to help the Kozaks in Serbia, as well as to establish the economic base and cooperation with businessmen in Serbia.

October 19^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic today officially opened in Nis factory “Aster Textile”, one of the leading Turkish textile companies, and added that Serbia was proud of the Turkish investors. “Aster Textile” has invested €9 million in the construction of the Nis factory, which is equipped with modern machines, and it employs 300 workers. The Prime Minister congratulated the director of the factory “Aster Textile” Ismail Koca on what has been done so far. He also visited the premises of the factory and expressed the hope that in the next two years it would employ 2,000 young citizens of Nis. He also talked with workers and wished them successful work. The opening of the factory was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic, Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic, Turkish Ambassador to Serbia Mehmed Kemal Bozay and Nis Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The factory was established in Turkey in 1993 as a company specialising in fashion design and production, whose centers for business development are located in Istanbul, London and Barcelona, and whose manufacturing plants are in Turkey and Bangladesh. The annual turnover of the factory is €100 million, and it has production capacity of more than 2.5 million pieces of fashion items.

October 19^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today, after the signing of the Contract on building a production plant of company Leoni in Nis that this was a great day for this city since 2,500 people would soon get a job here. After the signing of the contract at the City Hall in Nis, Vucic expressed gratitude to the German government and company Leoni, and invited them to open more factories in our country. He said that the Serbian government has so far allocated €31 million for subsidies to company “Leoni”, noting that the operation of the plant, in addition to creating new jobs, will contribute to growth of the city budget of Nis budget through taxes and contributions. The Prime Minister recalled that there are around 29,000 unemployed in Nis and that the opening of the new factory will employ 10 percent of people who are out of work, which is very important. Vucic announced that the foundation stone for the construction of this plant will be set up in December, while the factory is scheduled to start operating in August next year. He pointed out that an agreement was made with “Leoni” that it would employ at least 2,200 people, but he believes that 2,500 people will be employed by the end of 2018.
The Contract on subsidies was signed by Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic and Director of Leoni Clemens Sachs. The signing ceremony was attended by German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann and Nis Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The contract was signed for the investment of “Leoni AG” in the construction of a new plant in Nis, worth €22 million.

The company “Leoni AG” is one of the global leaders in the production of cable installations for the automotive industry and in 2015 it employed more than 75,000 workers in 92 production plants. Leoni is headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany, and operates in more than 32 countries around the world. It recorded a turnover of €4.5 billion, with a profit of €77.3 million. This company has been operating in Serbia since 2009, and has plants in Prokuplje and Doljevac.

October 13^th

UN special rapporteur on the rights in the field of culture Karim Benun met today in Nis with Nis City Mayor Dark Bulatovic and his associates, within her several-day visit to our country. A visit to Nis, a city in which 20 national minorities live, is part of the planned activities of Mrs. Benun, who is in Serbia for the first time in order to become acquainted with the state of cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage in this region. Mayor Bulatovic informed Karim Benun about the activities that the city has been carrying out in this field and pointed out that Nis has always been a city of different cultures, religions and nations, and that this difference has been seen as a wealth and opportunity for the development and improvement of the lives of all its inhabitants.

October 17^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his associates discussed today with the Minister without Portfolio in the Government of the Republic of Serbia in charge of population policy, Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, about the cooperation between the ministry and the city in the following period in order to implement concrete measures that would influence the mitigation of black statistics regarding population policy in our country, especially in the south and southeast of Serbia. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that the city would do everything in its power to improve the conditions for working and living in the city and to create all the necessary conditions for Nis to be a regional center of this part of Serbia. He said that immediately after taking office as Mayor, he took measures to pay off debts in relation to social care benefits, among other things, for the funds that the city allocated to the unemployed and unemployed pregnant women. “In this way, we have clearly shown that this is our priority and that the population policy will have an extremely important place in all the activities that we carry out in the city.” The Mayor said that there was no dilemma that the family was one of the important links of the development of the society. Minister Djukic Dejanovic praised the activities of our city in the field of population policy, but stressed that there was room for improvement because the fact that some of the measures did not give the expected results. She pointed out that at the meeting they also discussed stimulative budget funds for a number of pro-natal measures. “Nis has the professional potential to make big progress. There are a lot of ideas that the teams of the ministry and the city need to develop, and we will be looking for the development of service activities to help families of young parents, according to the model of an integrated service for elderly people which have been operational in Nis for several years”, said Minister Djukic Dejanovic.

October 16^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with the RS Minister of Mining and Energy Mr. Aleksandar Antic and talked about solving the city problems for which the help of the line ministry would be necessary. It was agreed that in the next few days, Minister Antic, Mayor Bulatovic and EPS Director Grcic would meet in order to solve the problem of locals in the Nis City Settlement of Crvena Zvezda, whose electricity was cut due to unpaid bills. The goal is to find a solution through the most favorable electricity debt reprogramme, to solve this problem in the shortest possible time so that the residents of the Roma settlement could have warm and bright houses in the winter. Minister Antic said that the Ministry of Mining and Energy would provide assistance to the city in order to equip industrial zones, especially the industrial zone Lozni Kalem and West industrial zone.  The goal is to completely equip the land and put it in the function of the city’s development. At the meeting there were also a number of projects mentioned that the city would submit to the ministry. Mayor Bulatovic said that the policy of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, was being implemented, which put citizens and solving their problems at the forefront. “We, as a responsible local self-government, will do our utmost to make the city functional for its citizens and it is our primary task”, said Mayor Bulatovic. Minister Antic pointed out that the Government was making great efforts to make Serbia develop. He said that all parts of Serbia must develop and that this was the reason why the Government would be located in Nis for 7 days, because the whole South of Serbia deserved it, since it had given most to Serbia, and that the attitude of the state toward the south of our country was finally changed. “Our energy sector must provide the necessary energy for economic growth and development, and with regard to the plan of Elektroprivreda Srbije, will foresee all investments that will enable the working zone in Nis to be put into operation so that they are ready for the arrival of investors. Together, with City of Nis, we will successfully implement the energy policy,”said Minister Antic.

October 16^th

RS Minister of Culture and Information Vladan Vukosavljevic visited today cultural institutions in Nis and said that Nis was an important Serbian and regional cultural center which had full support of the line ministry. Vukosavljevic, accompanied by the Member of the Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski, visited the National Museum, Archaeological site Mediana, Nis Cultural Center, Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts, National Theater. Vukosavljevic said that the line ministry would do everything it could to help the development of cultural institutions and that money problems would be solved in accordance with the maximum possibilities of the Ministry. He pointed out that Nis was a city of great potentials and that the Ministry would provide assistance to help Nis realize its potentials. He emphasized that local self-government and cultural workers should, for their part, apply for competitions with good and sustainable projects. The Minister added that the visit to Nis was a good opportunity to get acquainted with the situation on the ground, although the Ministry has been well informed about the situation in the cultural institutions.

October 15^th, 2016

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Mrs. Zorana Mihajlovic, has said that one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia is to reduce violence against women, as well as to increase their economic independence and employment.

At a panel discussion on Gender Equality held in the City of Nis Assembly, Mrs. Mihajlovic said that women in Serbia are paid approximately 30 to 40 percent less for the same job in comparison with men.

She also pointed out that women should be much more represented in social and political life, as well as in the highest state positions.

Deputy Prime Minister invited women to be unique such as men are, thus contributing to the creation of a modern Serbia.

The Coordination Body for Gender Equality was established on the proposal of the Serbian Prime Minister, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, and in no European country such a body is set at such a high level, because it is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, she noted.
Mrs. Mihajlovic commended the Mayor of the City Nis, Mr.  Darko Bulatovic, for his great support to gender equality, considering the fact that Nis has a Safe House of a regional character.

The Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, pointed out that the City of Nis has a large number of women participating in politics and  that a lot of them are at important positions.
The director of the Safe House in Nis, Mrs. Sonja Šćekić stressed out that women suffer violence for a long time because of their economic dependence on men, and stated that the most difficult situation is when mothers who suffer violence from their adult children come to the Safe House.