August 30^th

The construction of the railway bypass around Nis should start in early 2019 as it was announced by the city representatives. The member of the working group of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Ljubivoje Slavkovic, said that an international tender for the selection of contractors should be launched by the end of the year, and that it was expected to be completed by the middle of next year. “The contractor will determine their dynamics, but the works should not last longer than two years. The removal of the railway that is now passing through Nis is planned for 2022”, “Slavkovic said. He pointed out that the two-track bypass would be a little over 22 kilometers long and would extend from the village of Prosek to the village of Popovac. “The construction of the bypass is part of the reconstruction of the railway from Nis to Dimitrovgrad, which will cost 300 million euros. The construction of the bypass will be about 80 million euros,” Slavkovic added. According to him, the construction of the bypass will be financed by the European Investment Bank. Nis City Council Member Milos Milosevic emphasized that land expropriation would begin in the coming months. “The expropriation will be carried out by the City of Nis, and the state provided 1.8 million dinars for this purpose. On the route there are 1660 plots and 47 facilities. A working group of 15 members was formed and we expect the work to be completed in time, “said Milosevic. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic pointed out that the construction of the bypass was mentioned by all previous authorities, since the 1990s, but until the last year, nothing was actually done. He stressed that numerous preparatory actions on the construction of the bypass have been completed, and that construction can be expected in accordance with plans, at the beginning of 2019.

August 28^th

There were 47 project applications submitted for the financing and co-financing of projects for young people this year, of which 2 projects did not meet the administrative and technical requirements. Of the 45 evaluated projects, the Commission decided to finance 21 projects in the total amount of 3.5 million dinars as it was said today on the occasion of awarding contracts to the organizations whose projects will be financed from the city budget. The public call was launched for projects in the areas defined by the City of Nis Youth Care Strategy 2015-2020 and the Local Action Plan for Youth. The priority areas are the information, employment and safety of young people in Nis. “As before, the City of Nis continues to lead an active youth policy aimed at improving the position of young people in the city and creating conditions for their work, training and employment. Young people represent a significant factor in our society and must be given serious attention. The City of Nis, by financing of youth projects, as well as creating the necessary conditions for the development of science in Nis, is trying to assist. The city has always supported, and it will continue to provide assistance and support in the coming period to young people. “The next year, the budget for youth projects will be 100 % higher than this year. Young talented people are a valuable human resource that needs to be presented and assisted in every way so that they will stay in their own city- Care for the young must be systematic and continuous in order to improve their position and ensure their active participation in society. The city is doing this to make it possible for an increasing number of young people to build their own careers in Nis and create their families here, “Mayor Darko Bulatovic said on the occasion of awarding the contracts for financing and co-financing youth projects at the vent held at Nis City Hall.

August 28^th

Nis City Airport Constantine the Great came out of the crisis and “it can stand on its own feet”. This city company has been financially and commercially recovered and it will not be subsidized by the City from next year. Since the beginning of 2018, it will not have any credit indebtedness, and the next year will present a new stage in the development of the airport, as it was said at the press conference at the Nis City House where the business results for last three years of this public company were presented. “We have come to such results with our joint work, primarily of the state, city and airport. From next year, the city will not subsidize the salaries and fixed costs as it is now, but will primarily provide support for investments, capacity expansion and the creation of conditions that can make this airport regional, “Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said. By 2021, 20 million euros will have been invested into the airport, of which 12 million by the state. It will be invested in expanding an airport building that will be three times bigger than it is now. It is expected that the installation of the ALS system in the amount of about EUR 2 million will be completed this year. From the beginning of the year, 207,000 passengers and two thousand tons of goods were transported in passenger and cargo traffic. The plan for this year is 330 000 passengers, in 2018, 400 000 passengers are expected, while the projected figure for 2021 of 650 000 passengers.

August 25^th

52^nd Nis Film Festival – The Actors’ Guild Award was officially opened at Nis Fortress Summer Stage with more than 50 actors who bowed to the Nis audience who greeted them with a thunderous applause. At the opening of the festival the award for the life achievement “Pavle Vujisic” was presented to the actress Svetlana Bojkovic. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic presented the keys of the city to the president of the jury, Jelica Sretenović, so Niš would be symbolically a city of actors until August 30^th. Before the opening of the Festival Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic hosted a reception for the actors and guests of the festival.

The Film Festival in Nis is a unique event which presents the achievements of Serbian actors. The festival started in 1966, on the initiative of Serbian actors guild with film screenings on the Nis Fortress summer stage which can accommodate nearly 4,000 spectators and it is the most attended festival of its kind in Serbia. The task of the festival is to present and promote film and acting achievements throughout the region. It is the only Festival that gathers in the same place all national acting elite, as well as all leading local film producers, directors, critics, journalists and other important people from film industry.

August 23^rd

The Members of the City Council for Culture, Sports and Youth and Education respectively, Jelena Mitrovski, Branislav Kacar and Bojan Krstic presented a set of tickets for the Festival of Actors’ Achievements to the most successful pupils, students and athletes who won one of the first three places in international competitions, as well as to the winners of the competition Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe, and to the members Academy Theater of Nis Student Cultural Center. “This practice was introduced last year, because, in this way, the City of Nis wants to show respect, honor and recognition for young children and young people who have represented their schools, faculties, clubs, parents, themselves. In this way, once again, we draw attention with this modest gift; it is our obligation to take care of those who are the future driving force of the development of this part of Serbia by creating conditions in Nis for them to develop and improve their knowledge and skills, “said Jelena Mitrovski. “These young people with their invested effort and energy, with the successes they have achieved, and the rewards they have won, deserve to be thanked in this way. I have no doubt that they will continue to be hard working and diligent “said Bojan Krstic.

August 22^nd

His Eminence Bishop Arsenije, the Bishop of Nis, met today with the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic at Nis City Hall and discussed the further cooperation of the City and the Nis Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church. This is the first official visit of His Grace Bishop Arsenije since he has been elevated to the Throne of Diocesan Bishops of Nis. The previous cooperation between the City and the Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Nis was at an exceptional level. Mayor Bulatovic said that the City of Nis, in accordance with its financial capabilities, would help build churches and provide other forms of assistance. He said that the doors of the City Hall were always open. His Grace Bishop of Nis Arsenije emphasized that the priority of the Nis Diocese was to complete the construction of the Temple of St. Basil of Ostrog. He stressed that he was confident that the City and the Serbian Orthodox Church would continue to cooperate successfully. On this occasion, he announced the visit of the Patriarch of Alexandria to Nis in September and stressed that this visit was a good opportunity for the City and the Serbian Orthodox Church to host such a high delegation that would be led by the Patriarch of Alexandria.

August 21^st

On the occasion of the forthcoming mountaineering expedition to Mount Fuji in Japan, which will be held in the period from August 23^rd to September 4^th, the member of which for the first time will be the citizen of Nis Miroslav Dokman the reception was organized at Nis City Hall during which Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur presented the ceremonial flag of the City of Nis, which will be hanged on the highest peak of Japan. “The City of Nis is looking forward to the success of every fellow citizen, we see it as our success; we are pleased that Miroslav Dokman was last year the member of the expedition that won the highest peak of Europe and Russia-Elbrus. This year he is going to climb the highest peak of Japan-Mount Fuji and we are proud that today we could present the flag of the City of Nis to him to be put up on Fuji on the morning of the sunrise in the land of the emerging sun, “said the Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur. Miroslav Dokman has been engaged in hiking for more than a decade.

August 18^th

At the press conference held today at Nis City Hall the local economic development programme measures were presented envisaged by the City of Nis with the objective of creating favorable business environment, new jobs, conditions for establishing the company and strengthening the competitiveness of Nis economy. There are ongoing public calls for each of the above stated programme measures. According to the Assistant Mayor Dragoslav Pavlovic, the expected effects of the local economic development program are increasing the availability of credit lines, increasing the visibility and competitiveness of MSME products, improving the business and developing new products and services, improving the business climate and growth of investments at the local level, increasing the number of self-employed and employed persons etc.

Head of the Office for Local Economic Development Milan Randjelovic pointed out that the local government launched the public call on august 11^th for the allocation of incentive funds in the framework of the realization of the local economic development program, inviting banks interested in short-term lending to business entities from Nis with the participation of the city subsidizing interest on loans for the procurement of working capital, covering costs of purchasing machinery and equipment for modernization of the production process, stabilization of production, investments in new modern means of production and operation, construction, reconstruction and renovation of office space, new employment. The minimum loan for which the interest will be subsidized is 100,000.00 dinars, and the maximum amount of 1,500,000.00 dinars. For this purpose the City of Nis has allocated 5,000,000.00 dinars. According to Randjelović the deadline for submission of bids is August 21^st.

In addition to this, the City of Nis also envisaged the following measures: internationalization, improvement of competitiveness and improvement of cooperation between the companies and educational institutions that are accredited. For realization of the measure of internationalization 3 million dinars are foreseen, and for this measure, public calls for businesses and clusters with business headquarters in Nis were launched on August 15^th. According to Randjelovic, the promotion of competitiveness is a measure of providing assistance to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through implementation of standards, certification and recertification, market research, testing of new products, The funds, he adds, are allocated to cover 50% of the eligible costs, with a limit of up to 300,000.00 dinars per company. The planned amount for realization of the measure is 6 million dinars, the public call was announced on August 15^th and the funds were provided in the budget. 4 million dinars were secured for the improvement of cooperation between the companies and education-scientific institutions.

According to the Member of Nis City City Council for Economy Mihajlo Zdravkovic the City of Nis has allocated 30 million dinars from the budget this year for incentives for employment of hard-to-employ labor categories and this project is being implemented in cooperation with the National Employment Service Branch in Nis which provided 24 million. The public call for self-employment is open until August 30^th. So far 56 requests have been submitted. Public invitation for subsidy for employment of persons from the hard-to-employ category  is open until November 30^th, i.e. until all the available funds have been spent. According to the program of professional practice 25 persons have been hired and this public call is closed as well as the public call for participation in public works, through which 94 people were hired.

At the invitation of the Regional Center of the Ministry of Defence in Niš, the Chairman of Niš City Assembly, Mr.  Rade Rajkovic, in the barracks “Tvrdjava” attended the ceremonial farewell for the candidates from the territory of the city of Nis and Nisava district, who enrolled in the military schools throughout Serbia (military vocational schools, military gymnasiums and military academies).

At the meeting with the Head of the Regional Center of the Ministry of Defence in Niš, with the Colonel Markovic, the Chairman of Niš City Assembly commended the promotion of voluntary military service, as well as the activities in the open competition for admission to military schools. In addition, approximately out of 1,700 applicants from all over Serbia, nearly 30% were from Nis and the surrounding area, which reflects the significance of the Army and the inviolability of the Army and society in these areas.

The Chairman of Niš City Assembly, Mr. Rajkovic wished success and good luck to all the participants during their training program, emphasizing that their role in society is extremely important, that the city and the state will not forget them, and that their determination reflects the highest level of patriotism and courage. He pointed out that those young people had already made their parents and their country proud, with their sole need to be the part of the Army of Serbia.

Apart from the representatives of the Ministry of Defence in Niš and the Army, the ceremony was also attended by the representatives of the local self-governments, the enrolled candidates and by their parents and friends.

August 5^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Member of Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski met today with the actors of the Academic Theatre of the Nis Student Cultural Center who won the first place ward at the International Festival of Student Theatre KESTENBURG in Banja Luka. The purpose of the festival is to gather talented students from the whole world, in order to create an environment for experience exchange and cooperation between local and international art students and theatre enthusiasts. It will give a chance to everybody who enjoys theatre to experience different performances and meet foreign students.