Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of Cuba in Serbia Mr. Gustavo Trista del Todo at Nis City Hall.  The Mayor said that it was necessary that the traditionally good relations between Serbia and Cuba, which lasted for almost 70 years, to reflect on the regions and cities in Serbia, and that there were many possibilities for cooperation, first of all the possibilities for presenting Cuban culture at some of many Nis traditional festivals. At the meeting, the Mayor and the Ambassador discussed new forms of exchange in the field of education, medicine, culture and economy through activities that Nis would have in the future, as the largest city in the south of Serbia and one of the centers of this part of the Balkans.

May 17^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with Mr. Jakob Matzen, an architect and urban planner at the Technical and Environmental Department of the City of Copenhagen, on the occasion of his visit to Nis and planned lecture for the students of the Faculty of Architecture and Construction Engineering in Nis. This unique lecture will give an overview of the urban transition of the Danish capital and Mr. Matzen would share his views and knowledge on sustainable planning for the future. The lecture will focus on later years’ strategies and policies including bicycle culture, the climate plan, urban life and architecture policy. Mayor Bulatovic thanked the guest from Denmark for the experiences he would share with our students and teachers and said that cooperation at the academic level and the bringing of experts from other countries was important and mutually beneficial. The visit by Mr. Matzen is the result of the cooperation between the planning departments of the City of Nis and City of Copenhagen. Copenhagen is one of the best cities in the world by the quality of life – authorities are trying to improve and develop public transport and increase the number of inhabitants who use bicycle in everyday activities even above the current 50%, he said. Furthermore, the city is closing streets for passenger cars to make room for cycling and walking, and multi-level bicycle tracks are constructed throughout the capital.

EXHIBITION AND LECTURE ON CONTEMPORARY DANISH ARCHITECTURE

May 17^th

With the great support of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark organized an exhibition and lecture on modern Danish architecture in cooperation with the City of Nis and the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Nis. The exhibition’s authors are Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Association of Danish Architectural Firms and DANISH ™, a platform for the promotion of Danish architecture and urban planning. The exhibition presented examples of modern, sustainable architecture of well-known Danish companies. From socially sustainable projects aimed at creating interactions to environmentally sustainable emission reduction projects by converting energy from sun, water and wind to electricity. After the opening of the exhibition, students and all interested had the opportunity to hear the lecture by Jakob Matzen, a former member of the City of Copenhagen Urban Planning Team, who shared the experience in the area of ​​town planning in Denmark. Also, after the lecture, with the support of the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark the Danish documentary film “Great Architecture on a Small Planet” produced by the Danish National Television and the production company The Thin Green Line, was screened also for the gathered public. This documentary deals with examples of Danish architecture and urban planning from Copenhagen to Buenos Aires, as well as today’s challenges, such as climate change and increasing urbanization.

May 12^th

USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Mr. Brock Bierman, and the cities of Nis, Pancevo, and Cacak signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to help their district heating plants become more energy efficient. The Memorandum was signed by the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the Mayor of Pancevo, Sasa Pavlov, and the Deputy Mayor of Cacak, Milica Dacic. The project for energy efficiency in Serbia will last two years and its value is 2.1 million dollars. The aim is to reduce energy consumption through improved heating efficiency at the local level. USAID will provide technical equipment and advisory services to Nis, Pancevo, and Cacak to increase heating energy efficiency, which will reduce the amount of fuel needed to meet consumer demand.  “The framework agreement signed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the US Government enabled us to sign this memorandum today. We are glad that USAID decided to support our city out of several municipalities they were considering. We believe that this will enable further steps in improving energy efficiency and that as a city we will make a full contribution. I believe that contributed funds will be used in the right way to improve energy efficiency, which will result in citizens’ satisfaction, as well as the savings for city district heating system, “said Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The Mayor of Pancevo, Sasa Pavlov, said that the energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources was a strategic determination of the City of Pancevo. Milica Dacic, Deputy Mayor of Cacak, also thanked for being selected by USAID for this project. “We are trying to awaken the ecological awareness of our fellow citizens through these projects,” she said

April 24^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic is the official member of Serbian national delegation at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation which is being held in Beijing. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as the One Belt One Road or the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road is a Chinese Government development strategy involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organisations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa. Since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Serbia in 2016, bilateral cooperation in various fields has been advancing steadily. A Serbian delegation headed by President Aleksandar Vucic signed several bilateral agreements on the first day of a visit to Beijing on Wednesday. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic attended the signing of the MoU between Republic of Serbia Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Mr. Rasim Ljajic and telecoms giant Huawei for the Smart Cities project for the cities of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis.The purpose of this document is to develop the strategy of smart cities through the positioning of Huawei as a strategic partner for cities and local governments in Nis, Belgrade and Novi Sad. “Through joint work, through the exchange of information the platform for the development of local potentials and the building of local ecosystems in the field of digital transformation in the public, financial, educational, energy and transport sector will be provided which is of particular importance for the future development of Nis, as a great Balkan hub, “Bulatovic said after arriving in Beijing. Mayor Bulatovic will also take part in the Digital Silk Road Forum, one of the thematic forums under the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The City of Nis together with the City of Hangzhou from China has been appointed as the pilot cities for the initiative of the economic cooperation along the China-Serbia Digital Silk Road.

March 29^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic announced that the Serbian government adopted the decision of establishing routes of public interest in air traffic, based on which, from  July 1^st this year and until June 30^th  2023, the flights would be established to 12 cities in Western Europe. There will be flights to Nuremberg, Hannover, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Friedrichshafen in Germany, Gothenburg in Sweden, Bologna and Rome in Italy, Salzburg in Austria, Budapest in Hungary and Ljubljana in Slovenia twice a week and to Tivat in Montenegro three times a week, but only during the summer season from May to October. “This is the confirmation that Nis is among the priorities of the state. This is the result of almost everyday contacts with the President Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. This is the result of countless conversations and meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic and her team, and therefore I can proudly say that Nis officially has become a regional air traffic center, “said Mayor Bulatovic. He stressed that the economy, in which the state and the city invested, would gain a new impetus, it would facilitate investors coming to Nis and their meetings with local partners and it would facilitate access to the markets in Western Europe. “Of course, this is also important for the development of tourism, and certainly for our diaspora, because the destinations have been defined according to the actual needs, but there was not enough commercial justification for their launch, without the help of the state,” stressed Mayor Bulatovic. “This puts stop to all stories and malicious comments on closing the airport. “As we have agreed with Minister Mihajlovic, the headquarters of the company Airports of Serbia would be in Nis. All this, clearly show to the citizens of Nis and the southeast of Serbia that the opposite claims were clearly extremely malicious, inaccurate and directed against the development of not only the airport, “Mayor Bulatovic said at the press conference.

March 26^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Serbia, His Excellency Mr. Kun Adam and talked about the possibilities for improving cooperation in areas of culture, language, education and economy. “We have almost the same opinion on all these topics, which is that the potentials for progress that are there should be used,” Mayor Bulatovic said after the meeting. Ambassador Kun Adam said that he was in Nis for the first time and that this city was very interesting for potential Belgium investors. He said that efforts should be made in this direction, to bring more Belgium investors to the region of Nis. First steps were done at the presentation of the support programs and subsidies provided to Belgian companies operating in our country organized by the Development Agency of Serbia, the Office for Economics and Trade of the Embassy of Belgium in Serbia and the Belgian-Serbian Business Association when the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects of the City of Nis, as an example of good practice in attracting foreign direct investments, presented its work and showed why Nis was declared the champion of local economic development and the winner of the prestigious Financial Times award.

MAYOR BULATOVIC: WE ARE CONTINUING WITH THE BIGGEST PROJECT IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL SECTOR IN THIS PART OF EUROPE
March 19th

The Governing Board of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Ambassador of Sweden Mr. Jan Lundin visited Nis and met with the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the representatives of the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects to discuss sustainable urban development. Nis is the first city in Serbia that the Sida Board visited, as Sweden is supporting the preparations of building a wastewater treatment plant in the Nis. The Swedish support to Serbia, including the development cooperation, is based on Serbia´s commitment to the EU integration process. The Swedish Government is evaluating the results of the current cooperation strategy and assessing further support to Serbia after 2020. Today the development program is 11 million euro per year and covers the areas of democracy and rule of law, economic integration and environment and climate. “Sweden and Serbia have a long history of cooperation, including development cooperation. The Board wants to know more about priorities for cooperation today – and in the future. In Nis we have a good example of cooperation. Together with the Ministry of Environment, the City of Nis and the EU we join forces to build a waste water treatment plant. Sustainable urban development is necessary to secure the health of citizens, the rivers, air and soil and economic development. The project in Nis includes close cooperation between the Ministry of Environment, local authorities and representatives in the City of Nis within the Swedish PEID project (Priority Environmental Infrastructure for Development). The PEID project will support the preparation of the conceptual design and the tender documents for the waste water treatment plant and collectors. Under the IPA2018 programme, the EU has planned to fund the construction of the Nis waste water treatment plant for approximately 43 million euro” as Ms. Yvonne Gustafsson, the Chair of Board, said. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic expressed his great gratitude to the Swedish Development Agency for donations and great work on this, for the City of Nis, an extremely important project. “I would like to thank Ambassador Lundin and the representatives of the Swedish Agency for many meetings and discussions we have had related to the project and expressed sincere desire that it really succeeded. We are close to the final stage of the project. The City of Nis has fulfilled all obligations to this day, as well as the project team, and we expect that everything will continue according to the agreed dynamic plan, to the satisfaction of all of us, because together we are implementing the largest ecological project in this part of Europe, “said the Mayor of Nis. With the waste water treatment in Nis, it is estimated that Nisava River will be cleaner for 11.000 tons of sludge and solid waste annually which will give better health for all citizens and reduced risks of diseases.

100 DAYS BEFORE THE START OF WOMEN EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
March 19th
The 2019 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2019 will be the 37th edition of the continental tournament in women’s basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament will be co-held in Serbia and Latvia from 27 June to 7 July 2019. By symbolic countdown the official promotion of the European Championship for women in basketball started. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović pressed the button marking the beginning of the countdown to EuroBasket Women 2019 which would start in Nis for exactly 100 days. “By symbolically starting these watches, we remind ourselves and the citizens that we have begun counting for the last 100 days until EuroBasket Women 2019. I would like to cordially welcome all the guests to the imperial Nis, and for our basketball players I wish great matches, victories and winning of gold! “as Nis City Mayor said.

March 18th

The students from the Business School from the German city of Pforzheim are the guests of Nis Secondary Law and Business School. The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for professors and students, and the delegation was received by the member of Nis City Council Ms. Jelena Mitrovski. They did not know much about Nis and Serbia before they arrived here, and they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw and experienced here. “The city is beautiful, you have wonderful monuments, we have learned something about your history and culture. People are friendly and hospitable, and food is great, “said students from Germany. Both the hosts and the guests from Germany attend the business schools, so they also work on common business ideas on a daily basis. This visit is a continuation of an international project that began ten years ago with the goal of exchanging experiences in education, improving English and learning about two cultures and customs.