June 29^th

The public debate on the draft of the new Law on Gender Equality was held today attended by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Veterans and Social Affairs, Ms. Stana Bozovic and Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur.  Preventing discrimination against women in employment, the right to equal pay, promotion and improvement, banning the media from promoting prejudice and stereotypes towards women, are only part of what the new Law on Gender Equality offers. The draft law has also raised the rankings for political parties, as it is predicted that at least 40% of the candidates of the less represented sex should be included in the electoral lists. Also, public authorities are obliged to take special measures to ensure gender representation when proposing permanent Serbian delegations in international bodies and appointments of the collegial republic and other bodies. An important segment is dedicated to suppressing violence against women, which, thanks to the activities of all competent authorities, is no longer a “taboo” topic in our society. The draft law devotes a great deal of attention to the suppression of gender discrimination in the field of labor, which provides equal opportunities for employment, promotion, and training.

June 26^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the participants of the discussion devoted to the prospects for enlargement of the European Union during the presidency of Bulgaria. On this occasion he said that the entry of Serbia into the EU is a strategic goal of the Republic of Serbia and that the City of Nis, as a local self-government, was doing everything to support the efforts of our government, by incorporating reform measures into its decisions. “Through the adoption of strategically important documents and action plans that are in line with the documents of the European Union, we want to contribute to accelerating of the reform process and show that we are a good partner to the Government of Serbia in its efforts to bring us closer to EU membership,” said Mayor Darko Bulatovic. Ambassador of Bulgaria to Serbia H.E. Radko Vlajkov said that Serbia and Nis were Europe and that Bulgaria strongly supported Serbia’s progress towards EU membership. He stressed that for this reasons the Sofia Declaration wasimportant, not only encouraging accession, but also because it put major joint projects in the field of infrastructure into the forefront, which, not only established cooperation among the countries of the Western Balkans, but also connected people, and that was the essence of the European Union.

June 20^th

The City of Nis, with its decision on encouraging the development of talented secondary school and university students, envisaged scholarships as one of the types of incentives, for talented secondary school and university students which achieved top results during their previous previous education. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic presented the scholarship contracts to talented secondary school and university students today. “Being the best is the privilege of a small number of people, and the path to success is filled with great work, dedication and sacrifice. Ambition, with the awareness of the goal to which it is pursued, as well as the enormous work and effort, inevitably leads to success, with great contributions made by your teachers as well as your parents. The City of Nis is proud of your success and wants you to continue this way. Today, we are awarding ther scholarships to 29 secondary school students and 67 university students. I hope that these numbers will be bigger next year, and I am convinced that the good news that we are receiving about your successes will be more noticeable in the future because you are the true capital of this city and our state, “said Mayor Bulatovic on the occasion of the awarding of the scholarship contracts. He congratulated all the awardees. The City of Nis has allocated 7.5 million dinars for schoalrships for talented secondary school and university students this year. The monthly amount of the scholarship is 6,500 dinars. According to the Mayor, the City of Nis will allocate 50% more funds for scholarships for the next year, compared to this year.

June 19^th

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic, today, together with the directors of the companies Corrdor and Roads of Serbia, the heads of Nisava and Pirot districts and the mayors of Nis and Pirot visited the works on the construction of Corridor 10, a section from Bancarevo to Crvena Reka, where works on the asphalting of this road section began. “Sicevo Gorge, beside Grdelica Gorge, is one of the most difficult sections on Corridor 10. It is the sections on which we have been working day and night, and I want the citizens of Serbia to be acquainted with what we are doing and how much we are moving forward. After finishing this, then tunneling will be completed and by the end of the year we will have complete Corridor 10 “Mihajlovic said. The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that in comparison with 2014, when 34 million cars passed through Serbia, by the end of this year, this number would be 54 million. “This year we will have 20 million more vehicles compared to four years ago. Serbia has a great position and we need to use it, “Mihajlovic said. Mihajlovic added that with the completion of Corridor 10, the number of fatal traffic accidents will be reduced by 10 to 20%. In addition, the time of transport of passengers and goods will be shortened, and the costs reduced. All this contributes to the greater economic growth of our country, “Mihajlovic said. Dragana Sotirovski, Head of the Nisava District, emphasized the importance of the state investing in this part of Serbia. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that Corridor 10 was one of the most important projects on the territory of the City of Nis, which opened this part of Serbia for new investments.

June 15^th

The reception for the participants and organizers of the 5^th International Gastro-Tourism Festival was held last night at Nis City Hall. Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the participants of the festival that attracted masters of cuisine and catering workers from 24 countries, to the city of Nis, which, besides its rich history and tradition, has been recognizable for hospitality and superior cuisine, which has been proven many times in cooking competitions around the world. The Mayor said that the city administration would fully support this manifestation and help technically and financially so that this festival would grow into biiger event the following year and become one of the brands not only of Nis, but of the entire southeastern Serbia. The organizer of the Festival is Association of Catering and Tourism Workers of Niš, and Zoran Mirasevic, from the Association, announced the most interesting event during the festival which was the preparation of a large 65 kg pancake and 3,000 liters of of famous dish from Leskovac. The work of the competitors would be followed by a team of judges composed of world-renowned culinary masters who would decide on the winner of the event, both team and individual winners in all categories. The reception was attended by Assistant Minister of Tourism Ms. Vera Trefald, and the Head of the Nisava District Ms. Dragana Sotirovski, who reminded that Serbian cuisine on the international culinary scene, was presented in the best way, above all thanks to the unselfish efforts of members of the Association of Catering and Tourism Workers.

The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Labor, Veterans’ and Social Affairs and the City of Nis marked the 209^th anniversary of the Battle of Cegar. The delegations of the respective ministry, the City of Nis, City Municipality Pantelej, Nisava Administrative District, army and police forces paid their respects by placing flower wreaths at the memorial complex on Cegar Hill. The Battle of Cegar is one of the crucial battles, led in the First Serbian Uprising, between Serbian rebels and Turks. It took place on May 31^st, 1809, on the Cegar Hill near Kamenica village near Nis.

April 7^th

In memory of the victims of the bombing of Nis on April 8^th, 1941, the flower wreaths were laid on the Memorial at the Old Nis cemetery. 400 citizens of Nis lost their lives in the ruins caused by the bombing by fascist Germany. On the behalf of the City of Nis the tribute to the victims of that day was paid by Ms. Jelena Mitrovski, the member of Nis City Council for Culture.

April 6^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic wished a happy Easter to the Serbian Orthodox Church clergy, believers and all those citizens of Nis who were celebrating Easter according to the Julian calendar. “I most heartily wish to you to celebrate this holiday in the spiritual and universal peace, in love, tranquility and in tolerance. May the sacrifice of Christ in the name of salvation remind us of the true values that will help us build a more humane society based on the ideas of democracy, freedom and human rights.”

April 3^rd

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic said today in Nis that the transfer of the “Konstantin Veliki” Airport to the state ownership was a development decision and that it was motivated by the large investments needed by the Nis airport in a short period of time. “If we do not invest in Nis airport, the number of passengers will remain at the number of 350,000 people, and if we continue to invest, we will have 650,000 passengers by 2021 and 750,000 passengers in 2027. The reason why the government made the recommendation to the City of Nis is not to close the airport, but to enable faster development”, Deputy Prime Minister said in her address to journalists after the meeting on infrastructural projects with the City of Nis administration.

On this occasion she reminded that in the last two years she visited Nis seven times since the Government and the President of Serbia paid special attention to the development of Nis in all areas of infrastructure – energy and transport, in road, rail and air transport. “The Government of Serbia sees Nis as a transport hub, which is strategically important, and our goal is to develop Nis faster. The airport will remain in Nis, flights will continue, the employees will keep their jobs and their number will increase, and airlines will continue to have their contracts and prices stipulated by those agreements, “as Mihajlovic explained.

She said that all the analyses showed that Nis Airport needed faster investments in order to keep pace with other airports in the surrounding area. “Our estimates are that it is necessary to invest another 15 million euros to enable Constantine the Great Airport keep up with the surrounding airports. We do not have 10 years to wait for the City of Nis to invest 10 million euros, nor is it possible to secure the important investments due to security standards through donations. The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government of Serbia invested EUR 3.6 million for the past three years and the City of Nis invested another two million euros through subsidies, and that those investments were the reasons why the number of passengers at Nis Airport reached 331 000.

“Let’s not forget that in 2011, 2012, 2013, the City of Nis paid to the companies € 3.6 million for empty seats so that the airlines would fly from Nis. A total of EUR 7.6 million was invested so that Nis Airport could have 1,335 passengers in 2013. The money of Nis citizens went to Montenegrin and Italian airline, “Mihajlovic said. Speaking about criticism expressed by the opposition politicians Mihajlovic said that Zoran Zivkovic, when he was the PM, even when he was Nis City Mayor, did not return the airport to the ownership of the city, but it was done in 2010. “I would like to remind you that a serious problem arose precisely in 2010, when the Government led by Mirko Cvetkovic transferred the airport from the state to city ownership but with huge incurred money obligation. It was that very act that caused the problems that the city was facing today because the City of Nis cannot pay off those obligations, which are higher than the city budget, today, “the vice-president stressed. She denied that there were any plans for the sale of Nis airport, nor that the decision to change owners was related to the concession contract for the Nikola Tesla Airport. “You will also be able to see for yourself when the handover is completed and when the contract is published,” she added.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the equipment and the operating of the Constantine the Great Airport by all modern standards required financial resources that the city did not have and that the state must stand behind that project. “We got the assurances of the highest state leadership that the airport will keep with all signed contracts, with new investments and that it will be an alternative airport to Belgrade, and thus, must be operational 24 hours a day. He added that during the meeting all infrastructure projects financed by the state were discussed, among which the largest and most important was the reconstruction of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railroad, with the construction of a roundabout around Nis.

March 30^th

10^th Festival called Science is Not A Bogey Man started at the Faculty of Electronic today. It was organized by the Secondary Grammar School Svetozar Markovic. The festival was officially opened by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović who, on this occasion, congratulated the jubilee of promotion of science and knowledge. He emphasized that the festival became the brand of our city and one of the most prestigious city events. Bulatovic pointed out that Nis was the capital of science and knowledge of creative young people these days. He said that the City of Nis more than ever invested in young people, in their education and progress. “The city has started the first phase of the construction of a science and technology park and allocated 50 million dinars for it. After the construction of Student Creative Center, the place where all students and all talented people can exchange experiences and ideas, we expect two more phases of construction. After that, I sincerely believe that Nis will have all the necessary conditions for the development of science, “Bulatovic said. For the past decade the science festival has become the largest in its field, i.e., the promotion of young talents and science, not only in southern Serbia, but also in the country and the region. The festival was visited by more than 140 000 visitors and about 8 000 participants took part in it. It offers to its visitors the possibility to have a look at the world of science in a completely different way, reveals them an interesting way of learning and enables participation in interactive settings, as well as socializing with many renowned and well-known scientists.