November 2^nd

A public debate on the Draft Law on the National DNA Registry was held at the Police Headquarters in Nis. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed forensic experts and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and emphasized the importance of creating a national DNA register, in order to better resolve the cases in which the using the DNA method is crucial. The public hearing will last until November 10, and the suggestions are expected from the professional public. The use of the DNA method in finding criminals is present in the world for almost 30 years.

November 1^st, 2016

The City of Nis has hosted a two-day seminar designed for new councilors of local self-governments of the cities and the municipalities from throughout Serbia. The seminar, which will be held today and tomorrow in the Officers House, has been organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

The Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, delivering a welcoming speech, expressed his satisfaction regarding the fact that the City of Nis would host such a meeting. He recalled that all the authorities in the city were constituted within the legal deadline, and that the permanent working bodies were formed so as to reflect the councilor composition of the City Assembly.

Speaking about the efficiency and transparency of the City assembly mandate, the Chairman stressed out the upcoming activities related to the establishment of E-government, to the improvement of the communication by electronic means, as well as the introduction of electronic registration and voting, which will contribute to the work efficiency of city councilors. Likewise, a practice of good public relations with the media and citizens will be continued and improved, which will make the work of Nis City assembly transparent, whereas the citizens will be timely and accurately informed on everything.

The Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, has pointed out that this seminar represents the technical support to the representatives of local self-governments and extra motivation to constantly improve the system within they work.

November 1^st

Ryanair will be flying to one more destinations from Nis Airport from today, i.e., Milan Bergamo. The passengers from Nis in the future will be able to fly on Tuesdays and Saturdays to the central part of the Italian province of Lombardy and, possibly, through this very frequent airport to continue to European destinations. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the crew of a plane from Milan and announced the city’s investments in the infrastructure of the Nis airport and the renovation of the airport building. 140 passengers boarded the plane from Nis to Milan.

October 31^st

The Irish company Ryanair introduced another flight from Nis Airport Constantine the Great to Bratislava. The arrival of the first aircraft from the Slovak capital was attended by Her Excellency Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia Dagmar Repcekova, RS Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications in the Government of Serbia Rasim Ljajić and Nis City Mayor Darko Darko Bulatović. The Mayor said that this is the eighth flight from Nis, out of the planned 9, and that the Nis airport was developing in the exactly the same way as Nis citizens wanted for more than 30 years. He thanked for the support of the Government of Serbia which significantly helped the airport to develop at full capacity. The Ambassador of Slovakia expressed her great satisfaction that the efforts to revitalize the line to the capital of Slovakia resulted positively and expressed the hope that this would only be the beginning of good cooperation between the two countries in many fields. Ministar Rasim Ljajic stressed that the development of the airport in Nis was of exceptional importance for all Serbia. He especially emphasized that he expected more tourists from Slovakia because he was not satisfied with the number of Slovaks who were currently visiting our country. He also emphasized that the establishment of the regular route Nis-Bratislava meant improving the bilateral relations of the two countries, especially in the field of economy. Since the beginning of the year, 81 100 passengers passed through the Nis Airport, and by the end of the year, with flights to 9 different destinations, the expected number of passengers is 120 000.

October 31^st

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic visited today the French Institute in Nis where he was introduced to the activities of the Institute, which were aimed at presenting contemporary French creativity and language promotion. This Institute in Nis was opened in 2003 and it is one of the three branches of the central Institute headquartered in Belgrade. The institute is a showcase of contemporary French creativity – it organizes various cultural events. Then, it strenghtens the position of the French language and offers French language courses for children and adults. The task of the Institute is to direct to the the French university and scientific circles, and in this sense each year donates about 40 scholarships to Serbian students.

October 30^th

From today, from Nis Airport Constantine the Great, the passengers will be able to travel to Dusseldorf. According to the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who, along with his associates, attended the landing of the first plane with the passengers from Dusseldorf, the dream of all of Nis citizens was coming true since the airport was operating at full capacity. He announced that the City would finance the repair of the roof of the airport building with 26 million dinars and the Government would additionally help with the equipment procurement. “Our goal is to provide the best conditions for the operation of the Nis Airport”, the Mayor said. The flight from Dusseldorf is the first flight in the new winter season. According to the Vladica Djurdjanovic, the General Manager of Nis Airport, each new flight brings 30,000 new passengers annually, and the goal is to have between 500 000 and 700 000 passengers in the next five years, as well as to transport more than 4 000 tons of goods. He announced the promotion of the first regular cargo line Nis-Istanbul, which was even more significant, if it was known that apart from the Airport Nikola Tesla, the airports in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zagreb, Skopje and Sofia did not have cargo traffic.

October 27^th

The City of Nis and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration provided funds for the purchase of 10 rural houses for internally displaced persons, which ultimately provided permanent housing for these people. For this purpose, the City and Commissariat for Refugees secured 10 million dinars while the contracts with the sellers and the future owners of the houses were signed by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The City of Nis and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration each year announce public calls for internally displaced persons, to provide permanent housing, and to buy rural households in the vicinity of Nis. This is the second contest of this type. During the last call the houses were provided for 8 families. Until now, 320 families have shown interest in solving housing problem in this way. According to the words of the future an owners, this kind of help means a lot to them because they will finally have something of their own. Families who got their houses through the assistance by by the City and the Commissariat for Refugees do not have rights to alienation of the property for the next five years.

October 27^th

42^nd Nis Music Festival started officially in front of the crowded hall of the Nis Symphony Orchestra. Nis Symphonic Orchestra presented themselves to Nis audience at the opening night, and as a soloist, the famous pianist Rita Kinka performed under the baton of the Dutch artist Josef Suilen performing Rachmaninoff 3^rd concert in D minor. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who ceremonially opened 42^nd NIMUS, emphasized the importance of this festival for the City of Nis and said that cultural heritage was the largest wealth of the City that spoke of us. He praised the organization and the people who created art. The Mayor welcomed all the artists who would perform in Nis, both our domestic guests and guests from Slovenia, Greece, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Macedonia. “I am sure that your performances will be remarkable and that the Nis audience will be able to recognize it. I hope that tonight and next evenings the audience will be in this impressive number”, said Mayor Bulatovic. This year’s NIMUS will last until November 10^th. There will be a total of 9 concerts. The organizers of NIUMUS are the Nis Symphony Orchestra and the Nis Cultural Center supported by the City of Nis.

October 26^th

The first children’s playground built within the socially responsible action of the Company Imlek “My Little Cow – Grow Happily” was officially opened today in the park of St. Sava in Nis.
The new playground is fully equipped to meet the various needs of numerous kids. The event was attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, Imlek Marketing Director Slobodan Srekovic, and members of the Nis City Council. The realization of this action was supported by the City of Nis, so that the park of St. Sava could receive new content for children. On this occasion Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that this was another proof that only by helping one another we could be happy. “Happiness is always in the hands of the one who gives, but also the one who receives it. I would like to thank Imlek Company on My Little Cow playground, which will bring happiness to our youngest fellow citizens, but also their parents” said Mayor Bulatovic. “This is a big thing for our fellow citizens and little ones, and it is the example how a company can contribute to the development of quality of life in the city. This is one of the safest playgrounds, “said the Nis City Council Member for Economy Mihajlo Zdravkovic.

October 26^th

Public hearing on the proposal for the Strategy for Improving the Position of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Serbia by 2020 was held at Nis City Hall today. The strategy defines key areas of impact on the situation of persons with disabilities in terms of ensuring: accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and training, social protection, health care and other activities that contribute to equalizing the capacity of persons with disabilities. Assistant Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Policy Mr. Vladimir Pesic said that, in order to improve the overall social and economic situation of people with disabilities, all social actors should take full part in proposing certain measures and activities, envisaged by the Action Plan that would follow this strategy. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic greeted the audience and said that the City of Nis would have role to play in the struggle for equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of social life. “We from the local self-governments have the obligation to influence the implementation of strategic documents, through the decisions that we will make”, said the Mayor, adding that the local self-government will, within its possibilities, strive to allocate budget funds in the best possible way. Respect for human rights is our priority and we will try to develop different types of services through project activities that will be put into the function of people with disabilities.