The meeting dedicated to the progress of the project of collection and treatment of waste waters in Nis between the City of Nis Project Unit with the representatives of the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (Sida), the representatives of the EU delegation in Serbia in charge for the projects in environmental sector, the representatives of the RS Ministry of Environmental Protection took place at Nis City Hall. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic pointed out that this project was of great importance for the city and citizens of Nis and that, for the purpose of the construction of the wastewater treatment plant, about 500 land parcels out of a total of more than 600 parcels had been expropriated. Nis project includes 6 important infrastructure components, estimated at over 50 million euros, with over 35 kilometers of city sewerage network. The development of the necessary infrastructure in the area of water management in Nis was made possible by Sweden, the largest bilateral donor of Serbia in the field of environmental protection, and the representatives of the Sida assessed that the process of preparing technical documentation was going according to the planned dynamics. According to official data, about 8% of municipal wastewater is being treated. By 2041, we should fully comply with the European standards for this area and build 320 plants for the treatment of waste water in Serbia. The project of collecting and processing wastewater in Nis will be one of the first in this area.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the German Ambassador to Serbia Mr. Thomas Schieb talked today at  Nis City Hall on cooperation in the field of economy and culture between the city and one of the most developed countries in Europe. At present, there are 400 German companies operating in Serbia, and this country is leading by number of investors with a constant trend of improvement of cooperation. Mayor Bulatovic said, among other things, that he presented to Ambassador Schieb the projects of the City of Nis. “Our great potential lies in the IT sector and the trained and educated workforce, which we believe could be of interest to German companies in this area,” the Mayor said. Ambassador Schieb said that Niš was an interesting economic destination and that German economic relations with Serbia were improving due to the joint efforts of the chambers of commerce of the two countries. After the meeting with the Mayor went Faculty of the Philosophy for the ceremonial opening of the German Language and Literature Department.

The construction of the Visitor Center at Cave Cerje is nearing completion. If the weather does not slow down the works the building will be completely finished by the end of the year. The works were visited today by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the director of the Tourist Organization of Nis, Uros Parlic. The facility is built with funds provided from the Interreg IPA cross-border project implemented together by TON and Sofia. The total budget of the project is 587,695 Euros. 477,208 euros is a donation of the European Union, while the rest of the funds were provided by the City of Nis. The Visitor Center will have the exhibition and gallery space, the accommodation for speleological equipment, restaurant and space for rest for the visitors as well as the space for guides, security and sale of tickets, and sanitary facilities. Mayor Bulatovic said that this was one of the most important projects for the city when it was about the development of tourism in Nis. “It is a significant project not only because of the location of the Cave Cerje and its potentials, the large number of speleologists and tourists that visit it. This will not serve only for the purpose of this site, but it is significant for the whole area where there are monasteries, spas, cave complexes, and many other sites interesting for the tourists”, as Mayor Bulatovic said. According to the Municipality of Pantelej the works will begin on the asphalting of the missing road in the length of 300 meters and the construction of bus stop near the center, which will make the complex complete and infrastructural available at all times.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the recently appointed Ambassador of India to Serbia His Excellency Subrata Bhattacharjee at the Niš City Hall. In a cordial conversation, they expressed hope that relations between Serbia and India would be further strengthened, with emphasis on the traditionally good ties existing between the two countries. Mayor Bulatovic said after the meeting that their discussion mainly focused on economic topics and that he briefed the Ambassador about investment opportunities in this part of Serbia. Ambassador Bhattacharjee said that it was actually the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic who introduced a new era in relations between the two countries, recalling President Vucic’s visit to India in 2017 in the capacity of prime minister, which was the first visit of a Serbian high official after thirty years. Regarding potential investments in Nis by Indian companies, Ambassador said that in accordance with his authorizations, he will convey the message from today’s meeting to Indian business people, adding that IT sector is of most interest to Indian companies which could eventually expand their business operations to this part of Serbia.