Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic sent a letter today to the citizens of Nis on the occasion of the arrival of one of the best manufacturers of innovative lighting systems, the Austrian company Zumtobel to Serbia.

The official website of the Serbian government brings the content of the Prime Minister’s letter in full:

“Respected citizens of Nis, Dear citizens of Serbia,

As Prime Minister of Serbia, today I am particularly happy, especially because of what I promised during my seven-day visit to Nis, and that is that one of the best manufacturers of innovative lighting systems, the Austrian company Zumtobel will definitely come to Serbia. This was confirmed on 27 January by the Supervisory Board of that company and the world’s media, such as “Reuters” and “Bloomberg” broadcast this piece of news.

We have worked long and hard that this company come and today I have to be happy because this company, which all also called “Mercedes of the latest technologies in the world of lighting”, decided to build its new big factory in Nis and invest €30 million in it. I’d like you to understand how difficult it is to bring one of such players not only to invest and open up production, but also to be the engine of development, the transmitter of the latest technology and innovation and a serious partner to universities.

When I first had the opportunity to meet Director of the company Ulrich Schumacher exactly a year and four months ago, we did not even dream about such an outcome. But the time has shown that we built step by step the confidence of one of the leading innovative companies and convinced them that Serbia is the right place for them.

It started with the opening of Zumtobel’s design and project centre, which was transferred from Poland to Serbia, and the employment of young engineers and designers who worked here in Belgrade on the projects of Zumtobel across Europe.We are grateful to these young people because with their talent, dedication and creativity they were sending a clear message that Serbia is the right place. Immediately thereafter, as it is the case with serious Austrians, they decided to make sure that tomorrow they will have good suppliers and partners among our companies.

Together we visited more than one hundred companies and selected those that meet their high standards. During this process, they donated “smart” street lighting in two streets in Nis and Belgrade each. All this was part of the road of creating trust in Serbia.
Zumtobel has factories in Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and China. Today our engineers, our workers, our young innovators are becoming members of this big family.

My best regards to the citizens of Nis,

Yours faithfully, Aleksandar Vucic”, reads the letter of the Prime Minister.

The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for the members of the Chinese ensemble” The Voice of Yuan”. The guests from China who will be performing in Nis were welcomed by Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur and the Member of Nis City Council Jelena Mitrovski. The Chinese Ensemble will be performing at Nis National Theatre. The concert, which is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Association “Art of Giving” has a humanitarian character, because the money from the tickets is intended for NURDOR (National Association of Parents of Children with Cancer) to complete the second phase of the construction of the oncological children’s department in Nis.

The 2017 Radivoj Korać Cup season is the 15th season of the Serbian national basketball cup tournament. The final tournament will be held in Nis from February 16 to February 19.

On this occasion, the Letter of Intent on further cooperation was signed between the City of Nis and Serbian Basketball Federation at Nis City Hall. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that he hoped that the tournament, like in the previous years, would attract a large number of basketball fans, not only from our city, but from all over Serbia. He also pointed out that he expected the organization to be on the highest level and that Nis would be a good host this time.

Predrag Danilovic, the President of the Serbian Basketball Federation, emphasized that it was prestigious to play at Radivoj Korac Cup and that this has been a favorite basketball tournament for basketball players for many years. He expects the atmosphere in the Cair Sports Hall to be on an enviable level. “Nis is a basketball city and organizing such tournaments is a real opportunity for further development and affirmation of basketball,” he said.
For the first time, Mini Cup for pioneers will be held within the Cup of Radivoj Korac.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and associates visited Novi Sad where they met with Mayor Milos Vucevic to discuss important topics from the competencies of local self-governments and exchange experiences from the areas they deal with. Mayor Bulatovic thanked Mayor Vucevic for his hospitality, saying that he was pleased that the representatives of the two local governments had the opportunity to discuss the organization of work and important issues.

– It is important for us to hear how public utility companies are operating in Novi Sad, especially in the winter period, but priority is given to the topics related to working zones and the creation of conditions for the arrival of investors, i.e., employment of citizens – emphasized Mayor Bulatovic. Bulatovic invited representatives of Novi Sad to visit Nis, noting that the main goal of cooperation and discussion was to provide the best possible conditions for the life of citizens in order to employ and start families in our cities, and not somewhere in the world.

“We talked about our experience related to the construction land, property tax, problems in the utilities sector, and Mr. Bulatovic and his associates presented the positive aspects of the simplification of the city administration, i.e., the transition to a unified city administration. We concluded that the most important thing was to continue to support new investments, and creating new jobs, which directly affects the revenues of the local self-government. We also talked about a common problem related to lawsuits against the City and agreed that we must continue to insist before the republic authorities that inadequately well-defined legal solutions, referring to local level, are better regulated, because these problems affect the whole system – said Mayor Milos Vucevic.

Upon the invitation of the Company INSA the leadership of the City of Nis this renowned company in Zemun, founded in 1950 as a watch factory. Today this company is a significant manufacturer of watches and clocks, liquid and gas meters, components for the military industry, as well as many other products in the field of measuring technique and precision mechanics.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur could check on the spot that the expert and inventive staff of the Insa Company could at any moment meet the high demands of the market and produce a wide range of high quality products that are built to the highest standards.

For our city, it is especially important that the two companies from Nis already have established cooperation with the Company Insa manufacturing the product which is completely made on the market of our country, and placed as Serbia product at the foreign markets. City of Nis is proud that, in Nis, there are companies that operate in accordance with the highest standards and which make a significant contribution to the placement of Serbian products on markets across Europe and the world. This visit was of great importance for the further development and improvement of the economy in our city.

Under the auspices of the City of Nis, the Student Cultural Center Nis, at the initiative of Mr. Ivan Redi, and with the blessing of the Episcopate of Nis, for the fifth year in a row, is organizing the Saint Sava’s Charity Ball on January 2^th at the New City Hotel. The slogan of this year’s ball is – “We are better together”. “In the spirit of charity, the people of Nis are given the opportunity to show personal and social responsibility in a unique ball atmosphere, while maintaining a beautiful tradition of the cultural life of the city through their willingness to help others in the local community,” as said Mr. Ivan Redi said.

At today’s press conference, held at the City Hall, Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski said that the funds from this year’s ball will be dedicated to the Bubanj Special School for the purchase of a van for the transport of children to school. Dragana Petkovic, the acting director of the Student Cultural Center Nis said that the minimum donation was 2000 dinars and that it should be paid into the bank account of the school.

A traditional New Year’s Concert will be held in Nis on Sunday, which, this year, will be dedicated to Pavaroti. On this occasion the soloists from Italy and Mexico, Mark Frusoni, Alessandro Fantoni, Federica Leprea and Neivi Martinez, were welcomed by the Member of Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski. Ms. Mitrovski talked with the artists about the significance of this event not only for the City of Nis but for the whole region. The concert is organized by the Nis Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Zoran Andrić as the conductor.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with Davorin Dinic, the author if the short film about Nis  “Nis Timelapse Video”, which would represent our city the following year at the the festival in Hollywood and at the festival in Tennessee. The Mayor greatly praised the work of our talented artist, the actor of the Nis Puppet Theater, who also was into composing, graphic design, photography, music and web administration. He emphasized that Nis was very proud that such young and talented people were creating in Nis, and their work was the best promotion of the city. The Mayor stressed that the City of Nis would support the work of our fellow citizen Davorin Dinic, but also the work of other talented people who may not be recognizable at this moment to the public in Nis.

The author of the film, Davorin Dinic, thanked the Mayor for the given opportunity to meet the Mayor and speak with him about his work. He emphasized that the City of Nis has always been the best inspiration for him and that the beauties of the city have always the source of ideas for his work. Dinic announced new projects he believed would be equally interesting to the Nis public.

To the Bishop of Raska-Prizren Theodosius, the clergy and all believers who celebrate the birth of Christ according to the Julian calendar, I extend my most sincere congratulations with the wish for them to spend the most rational Christian holiday with the closest family, in peace and prosperity. Christmas is a symbol of joy and life and it remind us once again about the importance of mutual respect, tolerance and trust. I wish that this celebration of the birth of Christ would bring joy, love and peace into your homes for the holiday of Christ, and that New Year would bring personal and family happiness, health and success.
The Peace of God, Christ is Born.

On a New Year’s Eve, just one minute after the midnight, in 2017, Nis became richer for another inhabitant. Girl named Julia came to the world. During the night the happy mother was visited by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur, Assistant Mayor Dragoslav Pavlović and Nis City Council Member Sasa Zivic. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic presented the gift to the proud mother of the first born baby in 2017 city watch and 50 000 dinars.