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SCHOLARSHIPS FOR YOUNG ATHLETES

 

At the ceremony held at Nis City Hall young athletes from Nis received today scholarship contracts, whose monthly amount is 6000 dinars, and represent a symbolic way of expressing gratitude to talented athletes, who in different disciplines defend the colors of this city and our country. A total of 56 scholarships were awarded on the basis of a decision of the expert commission. On this occasion Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that Serbia was the country of sports and that it had been proven by the achieved results in many sports discipline. The City of Nis recognizes the needs of young athletes and wants to help their further development.




FESTIVAL SERBIA IN THE RHYTHM OF EUROPE NEXT YEAR IN NIS

 

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the Member of Nis City Council for Education, Bojan Krstic, welcomed at Nis City Hall the team from Nis who took part for the first time in the Festival Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe held in Sombor and they returned as the winning team.

The Member of the City Council Bojan Krstić, who was a member of the jury at this competition and traveled with competitors to Sombor, said that this was a special experience and that the young people from Nis, who performed singing in Turkish and representing Turkey, were the best according to the jury and the votes of the audience. Sanja Krstić, the participant in the competition, said that it was a great honor for them to participate in this event and represent their city. She pointed out that she was particularly happy that they returned from the first competition as first ranked.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated the children, but also their parents, and once again thanked the former Ambassador of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Bozaj, who suggested that children from Nis should represent Turkey at this competition. He thanked the media representatives for their support and all Nis citizens who voted for  the team from Nis.




AWARDS FOR BEST STUDENTS AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS

 

The students who won one of the first three places in national and international competitions in 2016/2017 school year, as a team or individually, were awarded city recognition awards. This year, 297 students won prestigious awards and showed that the City of Nis could be proud of its future generations. According to the Member of Nis City Council for Education Bojan Krstic, who addressed the audience on the behalf of the City of Nis, this award was an incentive for further work and progress, and the City of Nis would always be there to recognize hard work and talent.




80 YEARS OF MONUMENTS DEDICATED TO LIBERATORS OF NIS

 

The monument dedicated to the liberators is located at the central location of the city, King Milan Square. It presents the period of wars for liberation waged against the Turks, Bulgarians, and Germans. The monument contains inscriptions on the four most significant years of this period: 1874 and 1877 – the period of the fight for liberation from the Turks, and 1915 and 1918 – the beginning of the occupation and the liberation of the city in World War One. The monument is made of black marble and has a broad base with four reliefs, a bronze sculpture and a high pedestal whose lower part exhibits figural compositions of soldiers fighting. At the top of the monument there is a natural size horse rider – the Herald of Liberty, holding a flag. The monument was presented to the public on 28 June 1937, on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nis from the Turks. This monumental sculpture is one of the most significant creations of more modern Yugoslav art, made by the well-known sculptor from Zagreb, Croatia, Antun Augustincic. In 1983 it became protected by the law as part of the national heritage.




NETWORKING TO IMPROVE THE POSITION OF LGBT PEOPLE IN SERBIA

 

This year, for the first time in Nis, Nis Pride Week is organized, and it would last from June 27th to July 2nd. The idea is to promote a culture of dialogue and tolerance, affecting the reduction of discrimination and homophobia, and increasing the visibility of the problems that the LGBT community encounters daily. Within the Pride Week the conference was held on the topic “Networking to Improve the Position of LGBT Persons in Serbia” during which the activists of  human rights organizations and representatives of relevant institutions discussed ways to overcome discrimination against people in terms of sexual orientation.

The Assistant Mayor Prof dr Nebojsa Randjelovic spoke on the behalf of the City of Nis at the conference and he said that the City of Nis, through the local network for fighting against discrimination of the LGBT population, together with other institutions, was actively involved in the fight against homophobic and discriminatory actions by individuals or groups. “For us, this is not just our wish to follow the world trends when the LGBT population is in question, but we want to engage in dialogue and involve all relevant institutions at the local level and, in practice, win against the discrimination that violates the basic rights of citizens”,  as Assistant Mayor Randjelovic said.




AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION ALEKSANDAR VASILJEVIC CHEPURIN IN NIS

 

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his associates met with H.E. Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia Alexander Vasilevich Chepurin and talked about continuing and fostering traditionally good friendly relations with the Russian people, as well as cooperation between the City of Nis and the Russian City of Kaluga. The Mayor stressed on this occasion that the meeting with the Russian ambassador was the chance to present to him the projects that the city was implementing with the support of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The Mayor and His Excellency agreed that the Nis Airport Constantine the Great was excellent connection between Kaluga and Nis, which would be twinned in several months, and that there was a great opportunity for establishing charter flights between the two cities. The two officials attended the ceremonial opening of the premises of the Society of Serbian-Russian Friendship Naisus and the First International Festival of Traditional Russian Drinks which was organized at Officers’s Mess Building in Nis.




NIS AIRPORT CONSTANTINE THE GREAT WILL USE ITS STRATEGIC POSITION

June 22nd

Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic, visited the renovated building of the Nis Airport Constantine the Great, where, for less than a year, 70 million dinars were invested in the expansion of the terminal building and procurement of new equipment. Deputy Prime Minister Mihajlovic together with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Airport General Manager Vladica Djurdjanovic visited reconstructed counters for check-in for the passengers and baggage. On this occasion Deputy PM Mihajlovic pointed out that, two years before, this airport had 1,225 passengers, and with great joint team work, the number of passengers this year was increased to 140,000. “Last year we had a total of 122,000 passengers, and to date, this year there are 140,000 at the Nis airport. This is really a success, “Mihajlovic said, adding that efforts would be made in the coming years to increase the number of passengers at the Nis airport to 550,000 by 2020. In the past two and a half years, cargo transportation increased the volume six times. As of now, Nis Airport has 11 lines – Basel, Malmo, Memingen, Eindhoven, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Bratislava, Milan, Stockholm and Zurich. Constantine the Great is a regional airport, and Nis is very important for Serbia and the Western Balkans. It is up to us to take advantage of the strategic location of Nis. Many talked about the leadership position of this city, and we are trying to show it through the results, “said Deputy PM Mihajlovic.

She added the government invested in the airport in Nis during previous period and that it would continue to do so, and the plan was for the total investments to be around 6.5 million euros. About four million euros will be invested in the tower and expansion of the terminals and an investment of between 2 and 2.5 million euros is planned for landing and launching devices under the bad weather conditions. “These investments are important because the Nis Airport should be an alternative to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. It is our interest to increase the number of passengers and to use Nis as a cargo center and we will succeed in that, “said Mihajlovic.

Mayor Bulatovic said that nobody invested in Nis airport as this government for the past few years. “Constantine the Great Airport would not survive without the support we had from Deputy PM Mihajlovic and her ministry. Thanks to the state, we managed to get on our feet and jointly create the conditions for the airport to develop and to be, not only Nis airport, but also the entire southeast of the country and beyond airport, “said Mayor Bulatovic. He said that the reconstruction of existing capacities would be continued as well as the upgrading. Currently, the works are being carried out on further reconstruction of terminal infrastructure, the construction of the missing hangar and parking space, worth 7.5 million euros. 30 million dinars were invested in the airport building, which was made 30 years before, in the repair of the roof and facades and in the increase in the number of counters, from 2 to 4 while 40 million were invested in equipment, first of all in the new X-Ray Inspection Devices for passengers and hand luggage. The second phase of the reconstruction begins in 2018, with the aim of increasing or doubling the capacity of the terminal.




DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ZORANA MIHAJLOVIC HANDED THE CAR KEYS TO THE SAFE HOUSE

June 22nd

The Vice President of the Government of Serbia and the President of the Gender Equality Coordination Body, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic, presented in Nis the keys of the car, which would be used for the transportation of women and children victims of domestic violence in this city who are accommodated at the Safe House in Nis. Mihajlovic said at a press conference held at Nis City Hall that over five years more than 500 women passed through the safe house, and that every tenth of them was over 60 years old. “This is especially worrying, because they are our grandmothers, aunts, mothers, who suffered violence,” Mihajlovic said. She said that the Ministry supported 10 projects in safe houses, for which 10 million dinars were allocated. “We also plan to donate computers, which will no longer be used in the Government, as a gift to safe houses, and we will try to involve other ministries. This is especially important for children in safe houses, because we want to help them have better conditions to grow and develop despite the difficulties they face, “Mihajlovic said.”It is the task of all of us to help, to have as little as possible women and children staying in safe houses, and to create conditions for them to live freely again,” Mihajlovic said. She added that the car for safe house in Nis was donated by RS Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, and that it was used car which was serviced and it would be of help in the daily functioning, primarily when safe house dweller need to go to court or the social care center. The keys to the car were delivered to Mrs. Sonja Scekic, the director of the Safe House in Nis.

Mrs. Scekic thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for her donation to the institution which provided 24-hour protection to victims of domestic violence, adding that the promise made during her previous visit to the Safe House in November 2016 was fulfilled. “The Deputy Prime Minister is constantly taking care of safe houses. Besides the donation in cars we have signed the contract for the project “Protect Yourself with Greenery” which would enable the green fence to be made around the safe house. Mrs. Scekic added that expressed concern was at the same time the message to all women who might be suffering the violence, to report it because they were not alone, they had the support and the state cared about them.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic thanked, on the behalf of the City of Nis, to the Deputy PM Zorana Mihajlovic, for the donation, and pointed out that he was extremely pleased because the Deputy Prime Minister had the opportunity to learn more about all the projects implemented in Nis with the support of the Government of the Republic of Serbia at a meeting with the management of the city and city municipalities.




GALLERY SERBIA TEMPORARY IN OFFICERS’ MESS BUILDING

June 19th

Gallery Serbia will be temporarily moved to the Officers’ Mess Building until the City of Nis finds the best solutions for this institution of culture, said Mayor Darko Bulatovic during the visit to the renovation of one of the hall at Officers’ Mess Buildings. The Depot, for now, remains where it is, in the building at King Milan Square, the Mayor added. This was a necessary solution because the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts remained without the exhibition space Gallery Serbia because the building on King Milan Square was returned to the heirs of the former owners. “This is an optimal solution, the building is air-conditioned, representative and can be adequate for the exhibitions planned by the Gallery. In the following period, we will make the final decision whether the City will buy a new, adequate space for the Gallery and the depot, or it will be a completely new building. We are considering and looking for the best solution, “said the Mayor. The first exhibition in the new space is expected on June 27th. It is the exhibition of painter and professor from Belgrade, Sinisa Zikic.

The Officers’ Mess Building was renovated in April last year, and it was opened officially by an exhibition of prints by famous French artist Anthony Matisse. This building is famous for Nis Declaration of 2014. The building is under the protection of the state as a historical monument, the City of Nis and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia allocated just over 100 million dinars for its renovation.




SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE BEST SECONDARY SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

  June 19th

17 talented secondary school students and 85 university students received the City of Nis scholarships for which the city allocated 14 million dinars from the city budget. The amount of monthly scholarship is six thousand dinars.

The contracts on scholarships were delivered to the secondary school and university students by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who, on this occasion, said that the knowledge must be invested into. He stressed that this year the scholarships were higher than the previous year and that the goal of local self-government was to increase their amount. “We will strive to invest in the next few years even more in what the pillars of family, community and society as a whole are, and that is certainly education,” said Mayor Darko Bulatovic at the scholarship award ceremony. He also announced the Vidovdan awards for students who won the highest positions in republic and international competitions.