Serbian Prime Minister Ms. Ana Brnabic visited Philip Morris International on the occasion of marking 15 years since this global tobacco industry leader has privatized the Tobacco Industry Nis. The acquisition of this largest domestic tobacco factory continues to be one of the most successful privatizations and the largest direct foreign investments in Serbia so far.

Aleksandar Jakovljevic, Philip Morris General Director for Southeast Europe, said that since the arrival in Serbia, the company has invested more than $ 850 million in modernization and development of production to date and planned to continue investing in order to keep it stable and to meet the constant demand growth.  “The fact that we have increased exports 40 times compared to ten years ago and that as many as four out of five of all cigarettes today produced in Nis are intended for placement in 50 markets around the world, the best proof is the quality of this investment, our factory and 900 employees”, said Jakovljevic. Philip Morris is the second largest taxpayer in the country and accounts for more than five percent of the total tax revenues of the state budget. Based on excise duties, VAT and other taxes from coming to Serbia to date, the company has paid $ 6.5 billion to the budget, said the director Jakovljevic.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic together RS Prime Minister Ana Brnabic , during the visit to the factory, learned more about new production system which completely automates the management of the finished products.  Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that the Serbian government was continuing to improve the business environment so that “companies like Philip Morris continue to operate in Serbia, achieve excellent business results and hire our employees and engage domestic companies as subcontractors.” At the end of the visit, Brnabic appealed to the company’s management to “direct some of its research into alternative tobacco products to our country. Innovation and research and development are important for the modernization of our economy and the acceleration of economic growth. ”

By laying flower wreaths at the Monument to Liberators at the Square of King Milan in the city center and at the memorial complex Bubanj, the anniversary of the liberation of Nis in the Second World War was marked. City of Nis delegation, led by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic paid their respects together with the delegations of the Serbian Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, the Nisava District and the Association for the Conservation of the Traditions of the Liberation Wars of Serbia. Nis was freed on October 14, 1944, when the 22^nd Division of the People’s Liberation Movement entered the city and attacked the German troops from the south.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with the Ambassador of Japan in Serbia, H.E. Mr. Junichi Maruyama at Nis City Hall.  The two officials discussed the possibilities of cooperation between Japan and this part of Serbia. Ambassador of Japan was supposed to give the lecture today about traditional calligraphy within Days of Japan which is organized traditionally every autumn in Nis. The Japanese government cooperates with local communities in Serbia through a grant scheme, such as the donation of an ambulance vehicle and a fire truck. What is especially important to Japan as a country that often faces natural disasters is to develop cooperation between the two countries and disseminate information on the prevention and recovery from natural disasters.  The total amount of Japanese aid through projects for the basic needs of the population in Serbia since 1999 reached 13.3 million euros. The total amount of Japanese aid to Serbia during the same period exceeds 507 million euros, which unambiguously shows the friendly attitude of the people of Japan towards Serbia, but also the unreserved support to our country in different segments.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with the Ambassador of Japan in Serbia, H.E. Mr. Junichi Maruyama at Nis City Hall.  The two officials discussed the possibilities of cooperation between Japan and this part of Serbia. Ambassador of Japan was supposed to give the lecture today about traditional calligraphy within Days of Japan which is organized traditionally every autumn in Nis. The Japanese government cooperates with local communities in Serbia through a grant scheme, such as the donation of an ambulance vehicle and a fire truck. What is especially important to Japan as a country that often faces natural disasters is to develop cooperation between the two countries and disseminate information on the prevention and recovery from natural disasters.  The total amount of Japanese aid through projects for the basic needs of the population in Serbia since 1999 reached 13.3 million euros. The total amount of Japanese aid to Serbia during the same period exceeds 507 million euros, which unambiguously shows the friendly attitude of the people of Japan towards Serbia, but also the unreserved support to our country in different segments.

On the occasion of the celebration of Nis City Liberation Day in the First World War the flower wreaths were laid on the monument dedicated to the Duke Petar Bojović in the park across the City Hall and then at the memorial dedicated to those who were shot and hanged because of the participation in uprising in Toplica in 1917. The respects on this day were paid by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the President of the Assembly of the City of Nis, Rade Rajkovic with associates. The wreaths were also laid by the delegations of the Nisava District, the Police, the Army and associations that fostered the tradition of the liberation wars and memories of famous ancestors, liberators, and associations that gathered their descendants

Special reception was organized at Nis City Hall on the occasion of the centenary of the liberation of Nis in the First World War. The host of the reception was Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the guests were the most important representatives of the Serbian Army, police, security services and, of course, representatives of associations that fostered the tradition of the liberation wars and memories of famous ancestors, liberators, and associations that gathered their descendants. The Mayor in his speech on this solemn occasion said that the sacrifice that the liberators of our city made must be taken as the responsibility given to us as the legacy from our ancestors. We have preserved the pride and dignity of the Serbian name, one city and one small country in the Balkans have remained the unconquered territory of the unconquered people. History must not be forgotten, because, when history is forgotten, it is condemned to be repeated. Therefore, on this solemn gathering on the occasion of Nis Liberation Day in the First World War, I would like to send a great message: if a man does not destroy the war, the war will destroy the man! Serbian suffering will never be forgotten, but we will never repeat them again, “as Mayor Bulatovic said.

Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski met with the children who were participating in the traditional concert Meetings of Friendship – Joy of Europe. Center for Traditional Culture and Spirituality Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic and Children’s Cultural Center from Belgrade are hosts and organizers of the concert on the occasion of children’s week. The sponsors of the concert are the City of Nis, the City Administration for Culture and Information, the City Municipality Palilula, the City Municipality Pantelej and Land Army Forces of Serbia HQ. Let the Planet Shine is the slogan of this year’s meeting of children of Europe which is held for the 49^th time in Belgrade while the concerts in Nis are being held for the 11^th time. Over a thousand children from Russia, China, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Romania, Montenegro, Cyprus, France and Belarus has taken part in the concerts for the past eleven years.

The 9^th International Car Show for cars, motorcycles and accessories in Nis has been opened today in Sports Hall Cair and it gathered a large number of exhibitors this year, who presented numerous models of vehicles from the latest world production in the automobile industry. The fair was opened officially by RS Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic who said that the car show was important because the auto industry was extremely important for our country. Ljajic said that 10% of all foreign investments were in the automotive sector and that since 2001 about 70 companies operating in automotive industry came to Serbia. “After all, 40,000 people work in these companies and this is actually one of the sectors that are driving engines of our entire economy,” Ljajic noted. The opening of the Fair was attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who congratulated the organizers of the Fair on the persistence with the wish that the next one, the 10^th one, would be the best. ”I hope that next year the City will secure the venue which will enable the organization of the Car Shows and of other fair as well  because they are important because they will change the image of the business environment for the purpose of developing our city and the whole south of Serbia, ” as Mayor Bulatovic pointed out.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic attended today the opening of the annual meeting of Serbian Neurosurgical Society as a Joint meeting with Southeast Europe Neurosurgical Society attended by a large number of world renowned neurosurgeons. The global theme of the meeting was Spine Surgery in 21^st Century – Current Concept, Controversies, and Perspectives. The scientific program will cover all treatment aspects of surgical pathology of the spine, from basic to innovative. “It is a multidisciplinary congress referring to the latest knowledge, contemporary trends and future directions of development, as well as contradictions in the application of all these findings in everyday practice in the treatment of our patients, and in the context of modern diseases of the spinal column,” said the president of the Serbian Association of Neurosurgeons Luka Rasulic. The Congress is being organized in Nis in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Clinical Center Nis, and it is organized as joint meeting of the Association of Neurosurgeons of Russia, Russian Association of Spinal Surgeons and Serbian Neurosurgical Society in conjunction with Croatian Society for Spine Surgery. The Congress of Spinal Neurosurgery is organized under the auspices of the president of Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.

Within the City of Nis Local Economic Development Program for 2018, implemented by the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects the public invitation was sent to banks interested in short-term lending to commercial entities from the territory of the City of Nis, with the participation of the City through subsidizing interest on loans for procurement of working capital, costs of purchasing machinery and equipment, modernization of the production process, stabilization of production, investment in new modern means of labor and production for the purpose of developing entrepreneurship, and construction, reconstruction and renovation of office space, new employment. The Commission for the allocation of funds in the framework of the realization of this program, according to the criteria from the public call, chose the most favorable bid submitted by Banca Intesa. The City Council accepted the recommendation of the Commission and Business Cooperation Agreement was signed between the City of Nis and Banca Intesa. The agreement was signed by the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic on behalf of the City, and on behalf of the bank, the Director for the small business sale sector in the Regional Center Nis Milan Bogdanovic and the regional director for business with individuals and small businesses in the Regional Center Nis Violeta Marjanović.

“For the City of Nis it is very important that such programs are implemented in order to stimulate the development of entrepreneurship and thus contribute to the further reduction of the unemployment rate in our city. Local self-governments need reliable partners for the realization of these plans, and I am therefore pleased that we will implement this program in cooperation with Banca Intesa. The City of Nis allocates 9 362 409,00 dinars for the interest subsidy on loans that will be allocated to business entities and I sincerely hope that they will be more interested in this kind of assistance than last year, “Mayor Darko Bulatovic said at the signing of the Cooperation Agreement .

“It is our great pleasure that the City of Nis recognized Banca Intesa as a reliable partner for the implementation of the local economic development program through subsidized lending to entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises this year. The signing of this agreement thus represents a continuation of cooperation by which we supported the entrepreneurs in Nis in the previous year with 134 million dinars of loans with a subsidized interest rate. This segment of the economy is the main driver of economic growth throughout our country, which is why encouraging its development is a strategically important part of Banca Intesa’s total business, “said Violeta Marjanovic, Regional Director for Retail and Small Business in Banca Intesa, Regional Center Nis.

The minimum loan amount for which the interest will be subsidized is 100,000.00 dinars, and the maximum amount of 2,000,000.00 dinars. The City of Nis will subsidize interest until all the allocation is spent. The purpose of subsidizing a part of the loan is to contribute to economic growth through easier access of the private sector to credit funds which are approved on more favorable terms.