November 28^th

ROMACTED, “Promoting good governance and Roma empowerment at local level”, a Joint Programme between the European Union (DG NEAR) and the Council of Europe was presented at Nis City Hall. The specificity of the actions within programme framework would be to assist the local authorities to integrate Roma specific dimension/measures into the mainstream local policies, budgets and public service delivery on their agenda, while enhancing the participation of the Roma citizens in the design, implementation and monitoring of those policies and projects. As a result of the implementation of the programme, it is expected that the participating municipalities remain with consolidated features to continue serving the needs of the Roma population such as sustainable local action plans and one-stop-shops that facilitate the access of Roma to the public services. A Working Group was established with the aim of improving the communication and coordination of activities, and improving the effectiveness of services at the local level dealing with the problems of the Roma, as an expert working body of the City of Nis Council.

November 23^rd

In the next 14 months, in the proximity of the technical faculties of the University of Nis, the Science-Technical Park will be built, worth over EUR 10 million. The foundation stone was laid down by Serbian Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Mladen Sarcevic, the Rector of the University of Nis, Dragan Antic, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the Director of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Balkans, Dubravka Negre. Along with the funds for the construction, provided by the EIB, the state of Serbia will invest another EUR 1 million for modern equipment for innovative research, Minister Sarcevic announced.
“After Belgrade, which already has a STP, and Novi Sad, where the construction will be completed by the end of the year, Nis will be the third city in our country to get a STP. The investments of our state in the construction of these centers have already reached EUR 100 million”, as Sarcevic said. Antic said that “the initiative for the construction of the STP started a decade ago, but is only being realized now” and emphasized that it would create “good conditions for the further development of technological sciences, that is ICT and knowledge transfer, as the most valuable product” in Nis.  Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic emphasized that this was a fulfillment of another promise given two years ago during the seven-day stay of the Serbian Government in Nis. “Our dream of Nis, as Balkan electronics center, starts to be reality with the beginning of the construction of the science and technology park”, said Nis City Mayor. Negre pointed out that the EIB invested considerable funds in science and advanced technologies, as well as the development of this part of the continent. She added that it contributed to keeping the most talented and hard working in the country.

140 years ago, First Grammar School Stevan Sremac was founded. The school started working by the Order of Prince Milan Obrenovic, on September 27^th, 1878, in the year of liberation of the southern parts of Serbia from the Turks. This year’s event marking the Day of the School and the anniversary began with a traditional competition in rhetoric, and today a special ceremony was held at the National Theater. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated the anniversary and used this special occasion to remind everyone about famous and important people who attended this grammar school.

“We are celebrating 140 years since the school started working,” said the school principle Milan Stojanovic. “It’s a great jubilee. This is not just an anniversary of our school. This is an event that is significant for our city, and for the whole country. Some people who were part of this school, in one way or another, have entered the history of our country. These are people from the world of art, culture, politics and general public life. Many important people were students of this school” said director Stojanovic. Principle Stojanovic particularly pointed out one person – a professor and writer Stevan Sremac, after which the school took its name. “He left a great mark in our school, and he connected us with other parts of the country. He was a man who erased all the borders, and he celebrated not only our school by working here, but also Nis in his works”.

November 21^st

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic has appointed Milos Milosevic as new Assistant Mayor in charge of urban planning, land development and energy sector.  According to Mayor Bulatovic Milos Milosevic was successful in performing his tasks as the member of Nis City Council for the past two years and the Mayor asked him to continue the cooperation in the capacity of Assistant Mayor supervising the same sectors.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the US Ambassador to Serbia, Mr. Kyle Scott. At the meeting, the good cooperation between the local self-government and the United States Embassy was noted, especially in the field of civil sector development and the expansion of economic, cultural and scientific cooperation. The Mayor informed the Ambassador Scott about the current activities in the city, primarily about the stabilization of the budget, which increased the capacities and potentials for development and attraction of new investments. Speaking about cooperation with the US, Mayor Bulatovic highlighted the example of Philip Morris, who recently marked 15 years of business operations in Nis, and remained the largest and most significant foreign investment in Nis, and expressed his hope that other American companies would choose Nis for locating their business operations especially considering that the future Scientific and Technological Park would have capacities favorable for some of the American IT giants. Ambassador Scott said that the US Embassy in Belgrade was sincerely committed to maintaining the best connections between the American and Serbian people, which has been confirmed so far by donations, such as today, for the Children’s Oncology Clinic, but also through support to numerous civil sector projects, media and, of course, the development of economy, science, culture and art. Ambassador Scott emphasized the readiness to support every intention of American investors to come to Nis, which he said was of great importance for the development of this part of the country, and the improvement of relations between the United States and Serbia.

In the presence Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the members of Nis City Council and the management of the Airport Constantine the Great the first flight from Vienna arrived in Nis. Thus the new line Vienna – Nis – Vienna was officially established. The flights are scheduled for Tuesdays and Saturdays, and in certain months on Thursdays. The one-way tickets are on sale from 2399 RSD. The price includes all taxes except for the service for issuing a plane ticket. Wizz Air says this is “a great opportunity for Serbian travelers to discover one of the European cultural centers at a favorable price of tickets for 19.99 euros”. Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the launching of this line, as well as the enormous interest of passengers for it, was a sure proof that Nis airport had a future. “Since the beginning of this year, about 310,000 passengers have flown from the Nis airport, which is about 8 % more than last year, and we are sure that the plan of having 360 ​​000 passengers this year will be achieved. I am sure that next year, this number will be surpassed, “Bulatovic said. In response to the increased demand and desire for a number of favorable travel opportunities, Wizz Air continues to expand its network of lines from Serbia, offering this year a total of 20 routes to 8 countries available with two Serbian airports, which will further contribute to the increase in incoming and outgoing tourism trends and improve business relationships between countries.

The students and professors from the Dutch city of Lermond, who were staying in Nis as guests of the Law and Business Secondary School as the part of the traditional student exchange between schools, were welcomed today at Nis City Hall. The students were welcomed by Nis City Council Member in charge of education Mirko Zecević who welcomed the guests from the Netherlands and briefly informed them about the rich cultural and historical tradition of our city. Within this student exchange there are 17 students from Lermond and two professors visiting Nis. Lermond is the city that is located in the far south of the Netherlands near the Belgian and German borders. As the director of the Law and Business School announced, Milorad Gavrilovic, during the seven-day stay, the students from the country of tulips, would be able to get acquainted with our educational system and see some of the projects that this school was implementing. The students will also attend the classes during which the business operations of a company are simulated. The Delegation from Nis had already been in Lermont last year, and there were plans for another study visit in March the following year.

“The European Union provides continuous support to local development with investment of 300 million EUR so far, and the financing of the development of business infrastructure will enable the improvement of the overall business environment in Serbia and attracting investments, and thus a better life of the population”, as it was said by the Head of EU Delegation Sem Fabrizzi, congratulating the representatives of 34 local governments who have been granted a total of 40 projects worth six million Euros through the development program of the EU PRO. He recalled that the EU PRO Program worth 25 million Euros over a three-year period had been launched in March with focus on developing the economy and infrastructure. The program aims to contribute to increasing the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises, improving the business environment and improving social cohesion in 99 local self-governments in two regions: Sumadija Region and Western Serbia and the Region of South and East Serbia. Field activities are carried out by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The local self-governments will thus implement 12 projects related to the preparation of project-technical documentation, 19 projects for the preparation of planning documents and 9 business infrastructure projects, which will contribute to creating conditions for improving economic activities and attracting investments. The City of Nis is one of the local self-governments whose projects are financially supported by the EU PRO program. € 30,000 was approved for the development of projects for the execution of works for the multifunctional EXPO center, to be built at the location Lozni kalem in Niska Banja. Mihailo Zdravković, Nis City Council Member, thanked the representatives of the European Union and the EU PRO Program for the support in the realization of this extremely important project, whose main goal is to solve the problem of the lack of adequate fair space and to ensure that Nis could be suitable host for a wide range of events, such as fairs, congresses, meetings, shows and sports events. “The EXPO Center will generate gradually new economic activities in terms of consumption, jobs, income and tax revenues for the community. This will attract the participants to the new business area in ​​Nis and serve as a catalyst for other potential development initiatives, facilitating the development of private sector like new hotels, improving the overall quality of life of the population and contributing to the overall life and vitality of the community,” Zdravković said.

The round table on the topic of how to make the city budget more participatory and transparent was held at Nis City Hall.  The organizers of this meeting were the Center for Development of the Civil Society Protekta and the City of Nis. The idea of ​​this round table was to bring together the representatives of city and municipal institutions, civil society organizations and the media in one place so that all together could look at the problems of drafting and spending the city budget, the existing activities and the dynamics of drafting the budget for 2019. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that such meetings were one of the ways to hear the opinions of all those who want to get involved in the process of budgeting. “I spent two months with my associates visiting the citizens in the farthest villages to hear their proposals when it comes to the budget,” the Mayor said, and announced several other public hearings before passing the most important city act. The idea of ​​this round table was to create new mechanisms for involving citizens in proposing and civic monitoring of the city budget expenditures. The examples of good practice from Serbia on the topic of citizen participation in budgeting were presented.

The Secretariat for Property and Legal Affairs of the City of Nis Administration, announces the public call for the alienation of undeveloped building land owned by the City of Nis for the construction of the sports and recreational center Aqua Park at the location of Lozni Kalem in Niska Banja. The starting price is one dinar. The first phase of the General Regulation Plan for the area of ​​this city municipality envisages that, on the area of ​​5,4 hectares of the location Lozni Kalem, a potential investor will build an aqua park with at least 7 indoor and outdoor swimming pools with slides and other entertainment  equipment for the children, spa and wellness complex. Also, one of the conditions is to employ at least 40 workers for an indefinite period, to keep the number of part-time employees should be minimum 80.  Another obligation of a potential investor is to invest at least EUR 9 million in fixed assets and obtain the documentation necessary for the construction of the facility in accordance with current regulations, to prepare an urban planning project and provide utility infrastructure connections. Also, the potential investor should, within 30 days from the date of conclusion of the contract on the land property alienation, submit a bank guarantee in the amount of the market value of the land, issued by a bank registered as a joint-stock company with headquarters in the Republic of Serbia and with the license for operations issued by National Bank of Serbia. The bidder is obliged to submit a proof of payment of the deposit in the amount of 20% of the total market value of the cadastral parcels along with the bid. All legal entities and natural persons have the right to participate in the submitting bid procedures. Untimely and incomplete bids will be discarded. The location information package can be obtained at the Secretariat for Property and Legal Affairs of the City of Nis Administration, at the Office No 21, every working day, from 7.30 to 15.30, to which the bids are also submitted. The Office for Local Economic Development and Projects invites all interested potential investors to submit their bids. The deadline for submission of bids and deposit is December 10^th.