September 27^th

On the feast-day of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa and His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, His Grace Arsenije Bishop of Nis celebrated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of Sts. Emperor Constantine and Helen. Addressing lots of the faithful, His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros II, talking about the feast day and the city in which he was, emphasized that the Cross has always been and forever he would remain a symbol of love. – Under this Cross my children: Serbians, Greeks and African people fought for freedom, and hence it will remain a symbol of victory, Patriarch Theodoros said and with special  words thanked the Serbian Patriarch, Bishop Arsenije and the people of Nis for the warm welcome.  Nis City Deputy Mayor Prof. Dr. Milos Bandjur, handed the statue of Emperor Constantine the Great to the Patriarch Theodoros II as a memento of his stay in Nis.

September 27^th

His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa arrived in Nis in the evening on September 26^th.  A doxology in his honour was held in the Cathedral Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. His Beatitude, accompanied by His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, and the delegation of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Serbian Orthodox Church, was solemnly welcomed by His Grace Bishop Arsenije of Nis with many priests, representatives of the City and the Armed Forces of Serbia, as well as by the faithful people of the imperial Nis and the Diocese of Nis. On this occasion of visit to Nis His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa said that he felt at home in Serbia and addressing the gathered believers, told them to be proud of their country and to love Serbia. “Your homeland is blessed, the land of heroes, those who fought for peace and freedom”.

September 27^th

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey organized in the Crystal Hall of the Hayat Hotel in Belgrade the reception for children from Nis who won the Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe competition, as well as for the friends of the Embassy. In this way, the ambassador wanted to reward friends and children who represented Turkey at the competition held in Sombor in June this year. Welcoming the guests, he stressed that he was very pleased that Nis and the children from Nis won this prestigious competition because they represented Turkey. “I have to admit that my initial idea was to gather you in my house, in the residence, and to have party there, to have the children from Nis as my guests, but the rain and this changing weather prevented us from doing so. I am glad we got together. If you are wondering why the children from Nis are with us, I will remind you, and you probably all know that there is a music competition called “Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe” and these children won this competition. Here with us are also presidents and mayors of cities who participated in the competition, “said the Ambassador of Turkey in Belgrade – Tanju Bilgic who presented the children with gifts while main gift, the trip to Turkey, is yet to come. The stars of the evening were the children from Nis who performed their winning song. Mayor of Sombor handed over the transition cup of “Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe” to Nis City Council Member Bojan Krstic who thanked on behalf of the city of Nis for the reception and promised that Nis would be a good host of the next year’s competition.

September 18^th

Nis City Mayor of Darko Bulatovic and the Member of Nis City Council for Primary Health Care Sasa Zivic met today with the renowned medical doctors from China, Japan, South Korea, India and Indonesia who are staying in Nis at the invitation of the Nis Clinical Center on the occasion of the International Symposium of Shoulder and Elbow Disease Treatment that is being held in our city. In addition to these world-renowned doctors, the symposium will also include orthopedic surgeon from Serbia and Macedonia. For the first time in Nis a few days ago a complex operation of the shoulder was performed thanks to the experience transferred from the guests from far countries. Orthopedic surgeon Ivan Micic, who was staying in Seoul for further training, had just the opportunity to further improve his knowledge from this group of physicians. According to Professor In Ho Jeon from South Korea, the goal of their stay in Nis is to discuss with their colleagues about novelties in the field of orthopedics, in particular in the treatment of shoulder and elbow injury.

September 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovska met today with Predrag Perunovic who has traveled 16,000 km from Nis to Vladivostok city on the Russian coast of the Pacific Ocean for 43 days. Perunovic spoke about his impression while passing through Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia. On this occasion, the Mayor Bulatovic said that the City of Nis would be happy to support one of the following undertakings of this fellow citizen, and not only financially. He said that the City of Nis had good cooperation with many cities in the world and that Perunovic represented his country in the best possible way.

July 28^th

In the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the Minister of Economy in the Government of the Republic of Serbia Goran Knezevic and a representative of the Austrian company Zumtobel signed an agreement on the construction of the company’s factory in Nis.

Later on the representatives of the Austrian lighting group Zumtobel Group and of the government of Serbia marked the start of construction work on a new production plant at a groundbreaking ceremony in Niš. Within the next two and a half financial years the plant is to be built on a site in the southern industrial zone of Nis. When the facility is complete, it will cover 40,000 square metres at a cost of EUR 30 million. The first products are due to come off the production line at the new factory in the 2018/19 financial year. The plant will be built in two phases covering the next two and a half financial years.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Zumtobel Group CEO Ulrich Schumacher was joined by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Austrian Ambassador to Serbia, Johannes Eigner. The entire Management Board of the lighting group was also present in Nis, along with representatives of the Supervisory Board.

“I am delighted to be marking the start of construction of our new plant with today’s groundbreaking ceremony. This investment is one of the most important strategic steps in the redirection of the Zumtobel Group’s production network. The plant in Serbia will enable us to position ourselves successfully on the market in the long term and further improve our competitiveness. Construction of the plant forms part of our global strategy and the new facility will make the ideal complement for our existing production network. Serbia is at the heart of the region of Eastern Europe and offers numerous additional strategic advantages that will help make this project a success”, said Zumtobel Group CEO Ulrich Schumacher.

The plant in Serbia is primarily to handle the additional production volumes planned for the coming years. In a market environment marked by high pressure on prices, this new site will offer the Zumtobel Group the opportunity to supply its core European market at optimal cost. At the same time, this move will reinforce the lighting group’s presence in the dynamic growth market of Eastern Europe.

July 14^th

The 10^th International Folklore Festival NIS 2017 will be held from July 16^th to 20^th. There will be ensembles from 10 countries: Argentina, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. Concerts will be held in Nis, Bela Palanka and Knjazevac. At the press conference held at Nis City Hall the Festival was announced by the director of the Students’ Cultural Center, Dragana Petkovic and Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovski. The opening is scheduled for July 16^th in Nis, with the promotional walk of the ensembles through Main Street and the concert. The closing concert is on July 20^th on the plateau in front of the Church of Saint Emperor Constantine and Empress Teodora in the park of Saint Sava in Nis.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the Member of Nis City Council for Education, Bojan Krstic, welcomed at Nis City Hall the team from Nis who took part for the first time in the Festival Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe held in Sombor and they returned as the winning team.

The Member of the City Council Bojan Krstić, who was a member of the jury at this competition and traveled with competitors to Sombor, said that this was a special experience and that the young people from Nis, who performed singing in Turkish and representing Turkey, were the best according to the jury and the votes of the audience. Sanja Krstić, the participant in the competition, said that it was a great honor for them to participate in this event and represent their city. She pointed out that she was particularly happy that they returned from the first competition as first ranked.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated the children, but also their parents, and once again thanked the former Ambassador of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Bozaj, who suggested that children from Nis should represent Turkey at this competition. He thanked the media representatives for their support and all Nis citizens who voted for  the team from Nis.

May 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovićc and CEO of Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Incorporated (IMI) Eric de Candido signed the contract on alienation of land property of five hectares for development on the site known as Lozni Kalem. Thus the realization of investment project of building the factory in our city started.
According to Mayor Bulatovic the investor bought the land through the public auction at the market price of 236 451 008,00 dinars and with the help of the Serbian government and the City of Nis will start manufacturing plant and employ 1,250 workers. This factory will employ a large number of university graduates, mainly engineers. The mayor said on this occasion that the City of Nis and the Faculty of Electronic Engineering would provide all necessary support to the investor so that this investment project would be realized in accordance with the plans and the schedule that was previously agreed with the company. The Director of IMI Eric de Candido announced the ground breaking ceremony during this summer. Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Serbia and City of Nis was signed on August 19^th 2016. The total value of the investment in fixed assets for the period from 2016 to 2026 is 32 million euros.

IMI offers electronics manufacturing services and power semiconductor assembly and test services. Its market spans the automotive, industrial, medical, solar energy, telecommunications infrastructure, storage device, and consumer electronics industries. IMI currently has operations in the United States, Mexico, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, China, Singapore, and the Philippines.

April 25^th

Secondary Legal – Business School from Nis recently hosted the Russian students and teachers from St. Petersburg. During their stay in Nis the guests from Russia will participate in several activities, but also tour the historical sites and natural attractions of the region. The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for guests from Russia hosted by Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur. During the talks, the students of the ancient Russian city pointed out that they enjoyed their stay in Nis and that they were welcomed by true hospitality. The cooperation between Secondary Legal – Business School from Nis and the school from St. Petersburg has been going on for several years, and during these exchange tours, the students have the opportunity to exchange experience and get acquainted with the culture and tradition of the two friendly nations.