October 15^th

“The goal of the city management is to revive the abandoned and devastated sports terrains on the location of Small Trench in the Fortress which used to be used for recreation by Nis citizens for more than a decade, and which are now in a very bad condition”, said Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar who visited the location together with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Predrag Perunicic. This project City plans to realize in three phases. The first phase includes basketball courts with stands and dressing rooms; the second one is about the reconstruction of volleyball courts, while the third includes football field and athletic track. The goal of this project is to provide multifunctional sports facility that will activate and encourage all children and youth, as well as all other citizens of Nis, to engage in sports and recreational activities. At the same time, new terrains for recreation, preparatory and competitive activities would be provided for volleyball, handball, basketball, gymnastics and athletics. Perunicic and Kacar also visited the location in Brzi Brod where the construction of an athletic track with all the athletic battlefields is planned. State Secretary Perunicic promised that the competent ministry will do everything to give the city support for the implementation of the reconstruction project for this sports complex, in order for it to be put into operation. Perunicic emphasized that the ministry’s goal is to make recreational sport a mass activity.

October 15^th

RS Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic, accompanied by Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar visited the DELI Center for Creative Activity in Nis, an area that represents an example of good practice in the country and the region as a successful mechanism for employment of young people. For this project, the Ministry of Youth and Sports allocated 2.3 million RSD in 2015, within the Public Invitation for Financing and Co-financing Programs and Projects for Implementation of the Objectives of the National Youth Strategy. DELI Center project in Nis is being implemented by the Organization PROACTIVE. The aim of the project is to hire young people and open new companies through the initial support that DELI Center for Creative Activity provides through the organization of internships and education of practitioners, lectures and open doors of DELI Center as well as study visits of young people from Nis, Prokuplje and Krusevac. This Center allows young people to save and strengthen their business precisely through cost savings, but also to prepare them, through various types of support, for the upcoming challenges of managing it. Minister Udovicic said that we should influence the thinking of young people and give them confidence that they could start their business through the concept that was created here. A large number of young people use DELI space programs, more than 1,000 young people go through various programs and events a month, and there are 12 tenants who have founded their businesses, 3 interns and 4 employees in new companies. “What we did here in Nis with very few resources gave a huge result. At the general level in the world, if 20% of young people get out of these kinds of premises, it is considered a successful concept. Today, we have the situation that 50% of the young people who left DELI, after a year, founded their own companies and hired new young people and thus gave a clear message to young generations that life and future can be based in their villages and that they do not have to think about leaving their hometowns in order to succeed,”said Minister Udovicic.

October 15^th

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic spoke, in Nis, who wanted to present their problems to the PM directly. Prime Minister Vucic said that some problems could be resolved, some could not. He said that the citizens mostly complained about the difficulties in solving health, housing, economic problems. He added that all those in political offices were actually paid by citizens and that they were obliged to make responsible and honest decisions and that people valued work, diligence and dedication. Vucic announced that the practice of talking with citizens would continue. One of the citizens who talked with the Prime Minister was Marina Adamovic, a woman in wheelchair who has been collecting help for sick people for years in the center of Nis. She asked the prime minister to provide an improvised facility to protect her in winter and from hot weather. More than 1,200 citizens from Nis and the surrounding area have applied to talk with the Prime Minister, and Vucic met with more than 20 of them, mostly with those who have the most difficult problems. The Minister of Labor and Social Care Issues Aleksandar Vulin and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic were also present at the talks.

October 15^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the start of the meeting with the ambassadors of EU countries in Serbia that European future belonged not only to Belgrade and Novi Sad, but also to all other parts of Serbia. He expressed gratitude to all the embassies and in particular to the Head of Mission of the EU to Serbia Michael Davenport on attending a meeting with members of the government in Nis. According to Vucic, the City of Nis is one of the most important and largest cities in Serbia, and not only the center of five districts, but also of the south and southeast Serbia. We will do everything in our power so that the citizens of this part of Serbia are equaled with other parts of the country, Vucic said. The meeting of the Prime Minister and members of the government with the ambassadors of the EU countries was held in the Officers’ Club in Nis.

October 14^th

RS Minister without Portfolio Milan Krkobabić, who will be in charge of coordinating and directing the work of public companies in the next period, pointed out today in Nis that the goal of the Government of Serbia was to establish better coordination between republic and city public companies. At the meeting with the directors of all public companies in Nis, founded either by the City or the State, Minister Krkobabic talked about the real problems that those companies were facing in order to take the right steps in the future to overcome these problems. Krkobabić pointed out that all public enterprises must face essential reforms, business and financial, and that the goal was to make all these companies profitable, to further develop and to contribute to the budget. At the same time, he pointed out that it was very important that companies were socially responsible and that they were expected to improve the quality of their services. “The goal of this government is to put the companies on healthy feet and it is good that in this business, which is not easy, we have the support of employees and representative unions”, said Minister Krkobabic. The meeting was also attended by Nis City Council Members Svetozar Aleksov and Igor Vojinović.

October 14^th

Public finances in Nis are not in good shape, Prime Minister Vucic said during a visit to the City Hall in Nis, but he also pointed out that there were a large number of projects whose realization would contribute to Nis becoming more like Belgrade or Sofia and not only the center of the southeast Serbia, but center to the surrounding countries. The Prime Minister pointed out that the City of Nis had a big deficit and reiterated that the Serbian government could help so that the largest part of the funds in the amount of two billion dinars, which had been allocated for the South of Serbia, could be given to Nis. He reminded that in the coming days a contract with the Leoni factory with new 2,200 jobs would be signed, and announced that the Government would also bring investors from the Philippines and Germany, which would put Nis in line with large industrial centers. Also, as he added, the funds would be invested in the IT sector, i.e. in the Technical School and the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, as well as in the construction of a technology park. The government will continue to invest in important state projects, such as Corridor 10, railway relocation, Nis Airport and it will continue to subsidize the arrival of new investors. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovis said that all remarks and suggestions made by PM would be respected and that the budget proposal would be forwarded to the Government of Serbia for opinions and suggestions

October 14^th

RS Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Mladen Sarcevic and Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic visited today the new building of the primary school “Ivo Andrić” in Nis. The director of this school, Milica Petkovic, introduced a high delegation of the Government of Serbia to the functioning of this school, which recently got a new facility with its modern teaching and well-equipped gym space. Minister Sarcevic announced that the weekly curricula would additionally be enriched with sports activities. Nis City Council Members Branislav Kacar and Bojan Krstic were also part of the delegation. This visit was the occasion for the ministers to hand over the sports requisites and balls that would be used in the regular classes.

October 14^th

RS Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Mladen Sarcevic spoke today at the City Hall with the Nis City Deputy Mayor Prof. Dr. Milos Bandjur and his associates on the realization of projects of the highest importance for the city, university and school. One of the ministries’ priorities is the construction of the annex building at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Nis, where laboratories and scientific research centers for young scientists would be located. At the same time Minister Sarcevic announced an increase in student enrollment quotas for studies in the IT sector. The Minister also promised that the team of lawyers of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development would be determined. The minister announced new meetings with city officials to concretize co-operation in several fields.

October 14^th

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic handed over the keys of the Mercedes-Benz bus to the Nis Public Transport Directorate. This modern air-conditioned bus is a gift from the City of Belgrade to Nis and it will be used for city transport lines.

October 14^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the opening of the Serbia-Albania Business Forum in Nis that businessmen and investors from Albania were welcome and that the doors of the government of Serbia and the Serbian market were wide open to them. Vucic said at the business forum which was also attended by Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama that Serbs and Albanians were the two biggest nations in the Balkans and that they should not allow others to continue governing their relations. He pointed out that the two countries have managed to build friendship and must now work to develop economic cooperation and increase trade. It is important to behave rationally. Irrespective of political differences, we have managed to build trust because I believe that we want friendship, Vucic said and stressed that the two countries were linked by their common strategic commitment to joining the EU. The Prime Minister thanked the businessmen from Serbia and Albania for coming in large numbers to the forum, stating that he and Rama were very proud that the hall where the forum was being held is full.
Vucic also said that he was happy that the forum was being held in Nis, in south-eastern Serbia, for which he said was an intersection of roads and good business and a place that would represent the center of progress in Serbia and the entire region. He noted that some progress has been made in trade between the two countries and said that the trade of only €102 million was very small. We want to dramatically increase this trade, the Prime Minister said. The Serbia-Albania Business Forum was attended by about 300 representatives of companies and businessmen from both countries, and it was the first large meeting of Serbian and Albanian businessmen, which should contribute to the approximation of Serbian and Albanian business communities. The hosts of the forum were President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Cadez and President of the Business Albania Association Ljuan Bregazi. After the plenary part of the forum, bilateral meetings of businessmen were held, during which representatives of the business communities of Serbia and Albania discussed concrete cooperation and joint projects. The forum brought together companies from the food industry, trade, electrical and mechanical, civil, chemical, metal and wood industries, as well as from the field of tourism and hospitality, and telecommunications. A memorandum of understanding for establishing an Albanian-Serbian industrial and trade chamber, with headquarters in Tirana, was signed at the forum.