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.

December 6^th

In the presence of the city officials, businessmen and members of the Nis City Economic Council, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic presented the contracts companies, entrepreneurs, scientific-educational institutions, clusters and associations from Nis. Funds are allocated under the Local Economic Development Program for 2018. At the beginning of the ceremony Nis City Council Member in charge of local economic development Mihajlo Zdravkovic pointed out the importance of the city support program to the business entities, expressed his gratitude to all the companies and associations that took part in this program. Mayor Bulatovic said that the businessmen themselves were best aware of the significance of the budget and the fact that after many years the budget of the city was stabilized so that it was now possible to redefine certain funds under the local economic development program for 2018. The Local Economic Development Program is implemented by the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects. The Head of OLEDP Milan Randjelovic spoke more about the measures and criteria used in the selection of the companies that received grants. Based on the internationalization activities, a total of 13 companies received funds when it comes to the improvement of competitiveness and total of 46 companies received contracts on the allocation funds. Total of 10 entities received funds allocated for the activities for improving the competitiveness of companies that use the Start Up Center and co-working space services and improving the cooperation with economy and scientific-educational institutions.

December 3^rd

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur met today with H.E. Ambassador of Denmark Mr. Anders Christian Hougård at Nis City Hall. Denmark and the Republic of Serbia enjoy a positive range of relations including political and development cooperation. It is the Embassy’s overall task to represent Denmark and the Danish interests in Serbia, as well as to seek cooperation in the many areas where Danish and Serbian interests are mutual or complementary. Denmark supports Serbia in its efforts on the path towards the EU. The related reform processes are also increasing the business opportunities in Serbia for Danish companies. The representatives of the Danish IT Company Better Collective took part in the meeting.  “There are already several Danish companies in the city, and I have taken the opportunity to to present to the Ambassador Hougård the potentials of our city in the IT sector and to invite other companies from this country to invest here,” as Mayor Bulatovic said on this occasion. Better collective was founded in 2004 and has its headquarters in Copenhagen. Today, the company has a global presence, expanding beyond Danish borders. They currently have offices in Paris, Vienna and Nis. Better collective is a leading developer of educational platforms within the gaming industry. Through products they try to make sports betting and gambling entertaining, transparent and honest for a global online betting network. In the past two years, about 70 programmers have been employed in this company in Nis, and there is an intention to double the number of employees in the next year.

November 28^th

ROMACTED, “Promoting good governance and Roma empowerment at local level”, a Joint Programme between the European Union (DG NEAR) and the Council of Europe was presented at Nis City Hall. The specificity of the actions within programme framework would be to assist the local authorities to integrate Roma specific dimension/measures into the mainstream local policies, budgets and public service delivery on their agenda, while enhancing the participation of the Roma citizens in the design, implementation and monitoring of those policies and projects. As a result of the implementation of the programme, it is expected that the participating municipalities remain with consolidated features to continue serving the needs of the Roma population such as sustainable local action plans and one-stop-shops that facilitate the access of Roma to the public services. A Working Group was established with the aim of improving the communication and coordination of activities, and improving the effectiveness of services at the local level dealing with the problems of the Roma, as an expert working body of the City of Nis Council.

November 23^rd

In the next 14 months, in the proximity of the technical faculties of the University of Nis, the Science-Technical Park will be built, worth over EUR 10 million. The foundation stone was laid down by Serbian Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Mladen Sarcevic, the Rector of the University of Nis, Dragan Antic, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the Director of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Balkans, Dubravka Negre. Along with the funds for the construction, provided by the EIB, the state of Serbia will invest another EUR 1 million for modern equipment for innovative research, Minister Sarcevic announced.
“After Belgrade, which already has a STP, and Novi Sad, where the construction will be completed by the end of the year, Nis will be the third city in our country to get a STP. The investments of our state in the construction of these centers have already reached EUR 100 million”, as Sarcevic said. Antic said that “the initiative for the construction of the STP started a decade ago, but is only being realized now” and emphasized that it would create “good conditions for the further development of technological sciences, that is ICT and knowledge transfer, as the most valuable product” in Nis.  Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic emphasized that this was a fulfillment of another promise given two years ago during the seven-day stay of the Serbian Government in Nis. “Our dream of Nis, as Balkan electronics center, starts to be reality with the beginning of the construction of the science and technology park”, said Nis City Mayor. Negre pointed out that the EIB invested considerable funds in science and advanced technologies, as well as the development of this part of the continent. She added that it contributed to keeping the most talented and hard working in the country.

140 years ago, First Grammar School Stevan Sremac was founded. The school started working by the Order of Prince Milan Obrenovic, on September 27^th, 1878, in the year of liberation of the southern parts of Serbia from the Turks. This year’s event marking the Day of the School and the anniversary began with a traditional competition in rhetoric, and today a special ceremony was held at the National Theater. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated the anniversary and used this special occasion to remind everyone about famous and important people who attended this grammar school.

“We are celebrating 140 years since the school started working,” said the school principle Milan Stojanovic. “It’s a great jubilee. This is not just an anniversary of our school. This is an event that is significant for our city, and for the whole country. Some people who were part of this school, in one way or another, have entered the history of our country. These are people from the world of art, culture, politics and general public life. Many important people were students of this school” said director Stojanovic. Principle Stojanovic particularly pointed out one person – a professor and writer Stevan Sremac, after which the school took its name. “He left a great mark in our school, and he connected us with other parts of the country. He was a man who erased all the borders, and he celebrated not only our school by working here, but also Nis in his works”.

November 21^st

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic has appointed Milos Milosevic as new Assistant Mayor in charge of urban planning, land development and energy sector.  According to Mayor Bulatovic Milos Milosevic was successful in performing his tasks as the member of Nis City Council for the past two years and the Mayor asked him to continue the cooperation in the capacity of Assistant Mayor supervising the same sectors.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the US Ambassador to Serbia, Mr. Kyle Scott. At the meeting, the good cooperation between the local self-government and the United States Embassy was noted, especially in the field of civil sector development and the expansion of economic, cultural and scientific cooperation. The Mayor informed the Ambassador Scott about the current activities in the city, primarily about the stabilization of the budget, which increased the capacities and potentials for development and attraction of new investments. Speaking about cooperation with the US, Mayor Bulatovic highlighted the example of Philip Morris, who recently marked 15 years of business operations in Nis, and remained the largest and most significant foreign investment in Nis, and expressed his hope that other American companies would choose Nis for locating their business operations especially considering that the future Scientific and Technological Park would have capacities favorable for some of the American IT giants. Ambassador Scott said that the US Embassy in Belgrade was sincerely committed to maintaining the best connections between the American and Serbian people, which has been confirmed so far by donations, such as today, for the Children’s Oncology Clinic, but also through support to numerous civil sector projects, media and, of course, the development of economy, science, culture and art. Ambassador Scott emphasized the readiness to support every intention of American investors to come to Nis, which he said was of great importance for the development of this part of the country, and the improvement of relations between the United States and Serbia.

In the presence Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the members of Nis City Council and the management of the Airport Constantine the Great the first flight from Vienna arrived in Nis. Thus the new line Vienna – Nis – Vienna was officially established. The flights are scheduled for Tuesdays and Saturdays, and in certain months on Thursdays. The one-way tickets are on sale from 2399 RSD. The price includes all taxes except for the service for issuing a plane ticket. Wizz Air says this is “a great opportunity for Serbian travelers to discover one of the European cultural centers at a favorable price of tickets for 19.99 euros”. Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the launching of this line, as well as the enormous interest of passengers for it, was a sure proof that Nis airport had a future. “Since the beginning of this year, about 310,000 passengers have flown from the Nis airport, which is about 8 % more than last year, and we are sure that the plan of having 360 ​​000 passengers this year will be achieved. I am sure that next year, this number will be surpassed, “Bulatovic said. In response to the increased demand and desire for a number of favorable travel opportunities, Wizz Air continues to expand its network of lines from Serbia, offering this year a total of 20 routes to 8 countries available with two Serbian airports, which will further contribute to the increase in incoming and outgoing tourism trends and improve business relationships between countries.