March 8^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Belgrade Mr. Amr Aljowaily, with whom he discussed possibilities for improving cooperation, primarily in the field of tourism and improvement of the tourist offer of Nis. Ambassador Aljowaily and his associates presented to Mayor Bulatovic the experiences Egypt had in modern ways of presenting archaeological sites and possibilities for applying this knowledge in Nis, primarily at the site of Mediana, Fortress and other locations that were interesting to the tourists. Mayor Bulatovic informed the guests about the potentials of Nis in the field of tourism and said that Egypt was an example of how archaeological and historical treasure could be used for the development of tourism and that kind of experience could be useful to be applied in Nis which was one of the oldest cities in this part of Europe, with an impressive historical heritage. Bulatovic emphasized the significance and increasing investments of the state of Serbia in the Nis Airport Constantine the Great which, he said, was “a gate through which an increasing number of foreign tourists were coming to our city.” The talks also highlighted the willingness of Egyptian airline companies to establish routes between Nis and Hurghada, since, as it was jointly assessed, it was big and still unused opportunity to improve economic cooperation between two friendly countries and in particular the possibility for greater number of people from Serbia to visit Egypt, and also for people from the largest country of North Africa to come to Nis and get to know the city and this part of Europe. The official request has already been submitted to the authorities in Belgrade, and the approval of the Directorate for Civil Air Transport and the competent state authorities is expected.

March 8^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Serbia, Mr. Denis Keefe, who was on a two-day visit to Nis within the British PopUp Embassy Project organized for the first time in our city. The Mayor thanked the guest from Great Britain for what he said “a wonderful action that our young fellow citizens were involved in. He also took the opportunity to present to the Ambassador Keefe numerous projects that were being implemented in the city, from infrastructure facilities to science and technology systems, whose goal, as the Mayor said, was to create conditions for improving the quality of life and standards of our citizens. Ambassador Keefe conveyed to Mayor Bulatovic his satisfaction with what he saw and experienced during his stay in Nis and said that the possibilities for cooperation in all areas, culture, economy, education and science were great, and that in every sense the United Kingdom supported the reforms in Serbia on its way to the European Union.
“Nis and York in England have been linked since Emperor Constantine the Great, as Constantine had been born in Nis and crowned in York, and in modern times, every citizen of Great Britain can only be grateful to the citizens of Nis for friendship and alliance that dated back to the First World War, as evidenced by the burial ground where the British soldiers and nurse who died in this area were buried. Also the founder of the company Lipton Tea Sir Thomas Lipton was in Serbia in a philanthropic mission and visited Nis, where he was bestowed the title of the honorary citizen, as a recognition and gratitude for transporting medical personnel, medical supplies and humanitarian aid with his ships for the needs of Serbian hospitals during the First World War in 1915. The meeting between the Ambassador and the Mayor was joined by Ms. Lena Jovanovic, a third-grade student of the Grammar School Bora Stankovic from Nis who won the competition and became the Ambassador for a day.

March 7^th

Ambassador of Norway to Serbia Mr. Arne Sannes Bjornstad visited Nis and met with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the directors of the cultural Institutions in Nis on the development and promotion of, first of all, cooperation in the field of culture. Mayor Bulatovic presented to Ambassador Bjornstad the conceptual designs for the construction of a multifunctional cultural center. During the discussion between the Mayor and the Ambassador the willingness of both parties to deepen and expand already successful cooperation in many areas was highlighted and Ambassador Bjornstad stressed the readiness of the Norwegian Embassy, ​​and the Norwegian Government in general, to support all initiatives that are aimed at improving relations, both through support and assistance to theater and music ensembles, festivals, art galleries and museum and other cultural institutions to present  themselves to the Norwegian audience, but also willingness to participate in organizing the arrival and presentation of Norwegian cultural workers in Nis. Mayor Bulatovic once again expressed his gratitude to Norway for the generous support it has been providing for many years to our city through different programmes and projects. He also pointed out the fact that numerous Serbian Diaspora lived in Norway which presented another incentive for improving cooperation in all areas. Mayor Bulatovic added that Nis would initiate establishing direct flights from Nis Airport to some destination in Norway. The two officials also discussed the possibility of establishing closer cooperation between Nis and some city of the same size in Norway. The Ambassador proposed Bergen and suggested that City of Nis should convey its interests to that city in establishing closer cooperation.

March 6^th

A multifunctional cultural center in Nis will be built on 15,000 square meters, and it will be located at the corner of Nemanjic Boulevard and Blagoje Parovic Street. There are five thousand square meters of exhibition space, an amphitheater with about 1,800 seats, a large parking space, hotel, bars and restaurants envisaged for this cultural center. The contest for the design was launched in the second half of 2018, by the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects. 10 proposals were submitted. The expert commission chose the work the architects Aleksandar Slaviković and Dejan Miletic from Belgrade. “The whole object is designed in the form of a cube that would follow the external forms and spaces that can be used during the day and outside the working hours of the building,” said Slaviković. According to him the building is conceived in the spirit of modern design but in accordance with the environment where it will be located. “There is a big gallery space, and amphitheater, cafes, as well as hotel space, where the performers will stay,”Slavikovic said. The chief city planner Nikola Lecić pointed out that the location itself is one of the last unconstructed larger blocks in this area. Within this urban block there will be the future Cultural Center which represents a multipurpose building for the needs of culture and other cultural manifestations. “The second phase is the property ownership preparation of the site that should be owned by the city before obtaining a building permit. We expect that these activities will be completed this year and that next year we will have project which will be ready to compete whether for state funds or other funds. The member of the commission, Goran Vojvodic said that the winning project design stood out not only by the quality of the solution, but also by the way in which the theme was elaborated.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the construction of this multifunctional cultural center was of great importance for the development of Nis. Culture is the first place where the state and its society are viewed, the sense of quality life and a high standard of living are not measured only by the profit, but also by the quality of educational, cultural, and art institutions in the city, with the comprehensiveness of cultural opportunities, “Bulatovic said. He added that many cities in the world built their recognizable image by some famous cultural institution or event. “By building a multi-purpose cultural center, we want to create better conditions for development and encouragement of the cultural and artistic creativity, provide better conditions for accessibility to cultural content, and encourage innovation and creativity,” Bulatovic said. “Thanks to investments Nis is developing economically, all necessary conditions are created for sustainable development and investments in sports, art, culture and all those contents that make the lives of our citizens more complete and more beautiful. In this regard, I am pleased that the City of Nis has started to implement the project of building a multifunctional cultural center and I am really pleased that we as the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects could give our contribution. I am sure that we have succeeded in our intention and that the City of Nis chose a valuable conceptual solution for a multipurpose facility whose construction is expected with great attention, not only because of the prosperity that it will bring in the field of culture, but also because it will give a completely different, urban look to the city area where it will be built”, said Milan Randjelovic, the Head of Nis City Office for Local Economic Development and Projects.