August 13^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden in Serbia Mr.  Jan Lundin at Nis City Hall and on this occasion the two officials discussed promoting co-operation and developing bilateral relations. The cooperation so far has been excellent, especially in the field of culture and environment, which is especially true of the project of preparing the tender and technical documentation for the construction of the Waste Water Treatment Plant, which has been supported by Sweden through Sida. Mayor Bulatovic and Ambassador Lundin also stressed the importance of maintaining 3 airline routes from Nis to cities in Sweden, Stockholm and Malmo and recently Gothenburg. According to Ambassador Lundin this will be of great benefit primarily to the numerous Serbian diaspora in this Scandinavian country, as well as to tourists from Sweden who want to get to know this part of Europe as well, because of the rich heritage of this part of Serbia, as well as the many attractive events and festivals, such as the just completed Nisville. It was also estimated that the improvement of air traffic, as well as all other types of traffic, significantly increased the capacities of Nis and this part of Serbia in attracting new investors from this friendly country, which, as agreed, would be the focus of future cooperation between Nis and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Serbia.

July 25

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović visited the Children’s Library where the 13^th International Colony of Animated Film for Children and Youth was being held. On this occasion Mayor Bulatovic greeted the children from country and abroad and thanked them for coming to our city, and said that he supported their artistic work and creativity and wished them a lot of success and rewards in the future. Over 30 talented students from 10 to 18 the country and the world traditionally spend several days with their peers from Nis in creative atmosphere, workshops and sightseeing of the city. During the workshops led by renowned lecturers and mentors the children discussed many topics. Along with the organization of the Colony the International Festival of Animated Film Coin of Constantine will be held for the 7^th time According to organizers 894 films from 86 countries were enrolled for the festival. Of this number, after the selection, 84 films from 31 countries were selected for the contest. There are 45 films in the senior category and 39 in the Student category. The first prize at the festival was awarded to the film After the Rain from France, explaining that the film represented the perfect combination of animation, visual style, dramaturgy and sound. The same film was awarded with the first prize and in the category of seniors. In this category, the second prize went to China’s movie The Quintet of the Sunset, and the jury explained the decision with “the wonderful characterization and poetic sense of human life. The third prize in this category went to the Russian film Quiet for an aesthetic and nostalgic view of the relations between generations. In the student category, the first prize went to the film The Little Hero, which came from Romania. This is an educational story expressed through classical animation and beautiful graphics. The second prize went to the Israeli film Reviver, accompanied by a commentary that this was “an excellent example of a convincing story told using a complex stop-trick technique. The third prize went to Russia for the film Blanket Tale, for innovative and fun movie with great visual style and energy.

July 16

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the manager of the German organization HELP-Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V. for economic development Ms. Maša Bubanj signed a new cooperation agreement for the project “Supporting Socio-Economic Stability in the Region of the Western Balkans 2019-2020”financed under the German Development Cooperation. The project objective is to increase the capacity of economically and socially vulnerable population groups and to improve treatment programs in institutions for the enforcement of criminal sanctions and reintegration processes and their full involvement in society. The value of the Project for the City of Nis is 72,000 euros, of which the City co-finances the project in the amount of 28,800.00 euros and the Government of the Republic of Germany with funds in the amount of 43,200.00 euros. The project will be implemented in the territory of the City of Nis until December 31, 2020. The project is based on educational and economic support to the local development of the City of Nis, with the implementation of mechanisms for strengthening the development of micro businesses in the city. The main activities will concentrate on the direct opening of new jobs, through the help to small businesses in the form of grants, organizing business and vocational training. HELP-Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V. will support the implementation of existing local development strategies and support the sustainable development process as a whole. Within the project, at least 30 micro businesses in Nis will be supported in their intentions for starting or developing business activities. Support includes: donation in equipment or material with an average value of EUR 2,400.00; organization of business and professional training according to users’ needs.

July 15

Nis City Mazor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Serbia, H.E. Mr. Mochammad Chandra Widya Yudha. The Mayor welcomed the Indonesian ambassador and expressed his satisfaction with his first official visit to the City of Nis. He announced a new working meeting between the business delegations from Nis and Indonesia and possible concrete forms of cooperation. The Ambassador thanked the Mayor for hospitality and expressed his satisfaction with the good relations between the two countries. He stressed that he hoped that the fruitful cooperation of businessmen from the two countries would continue in the future as well, and that this would have a positive effect on the strengthening the cooperation in the tourism sector. The both officials expressed mutual interest in improving relations and establishing closer cooperation in the fields of culture, sports and economy. The Ambassador invited all businessmen from Nis to a large trade fair in Jakarta, which would be held in October this year.

July 15

Nis City Council Member Jelena met with the participants of a big concert organized by the Youth Philharmonic Naisus from Nis, which would be held at the amphitheater in Memorial Park Bubanj.  “Such musical events are very important for our city and we always want to help when it comes to organizing them,” said Jelena Mitrovski. “The concert in Memorial Park Bubanj has already become traditional one and attracts the attention of the lovers of the classical music and the public at large. The City of Nis will try to support such events and make them happen as many as possible for the benefit of all citizens. The concert in Memorial Park Bubanj is almost a unique musical spectacle and the guests who will now present themselves to the audience make it even more unique. In addition to the members of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the Belgrade Soloists will perform as well as special guests – soprano Sanja Kerkez, soprano Natasa Rasic, tenor Paolo Atogoneti and bass Federico Beneti.

July 4

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic signed the MoU with the Roma Education Fund for the implementation of measures and activities related to the improvement of the position of Roma within the framework of the “Improving Young Roma Employment” Project, Phase II. The Project is supported by the German financial cooperation program and implemented by the German Development Bank KFW on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Germany-Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The objective of the project is to promote employability and increase the competitiveness of members of the Roma national minority in the labor market. The project includes practical assistance, creating effective and efficient mechanisms necessary to combat discrimination and the creation of conditions in which Roma can exercise all rights with a focus on access to the education system and employment. The project includes 150 members of the Roma national minority from 76 local self-governments. Young Roma from Nis can compete for one of the 150 internship vacancies with 53 employers within the second phase of this program in all of Serbia. Education is free for students, including travel and accommodation expenses. Training courses will be held in Belgrade. Until now, in the first phase of this program, 780 boys and girls of Roma ethnicity participated, 186 underwent internships with different employers. 182 were paid during their internships. According to the last census, 6996 members of the Roma national minority live in Nis, while according to unofficial data, this number is much higher.

July 3

The Delegation of the European Union to Serbia and the EU Info Corner in Nis presented the report of the European Commission on Serbia for 2019 at Nis City Hall. The basic conclusion reached by the Commission is that Serbia has progressed in the field of economics, but not enough in the area of the rule of law and media freedom. The aim of the presentation was to bring together relevant stakeholders at the local level, which implies the participation of representatives of the business community, academic community, institutions, civil society organizations from Nis and southern Serbia. The participants were able to ask questions and actively participate in the discussion on this year’s European Commission Report on Serbia. The key findings of the Report were presented in Nis by the Head of the European Integration Sector in the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ms. Radica Nursdorfer. The economic aspects within the process of European integration of Serbia were the focus of the presentation. “There are many areas that have been assessed as positive, but there are also areas that can be further advanced”,  said Radica Nursdorfer. “The economic assessment is positive and the figures show that Serbia has made significant progress in the field of economy. The areas where most work needs to be done is the rule of law and freedom of the media, as the smallest progress has been made here. Poor progress in the field of the rule of law in many ways slows the speed of accession. If we want to talk about statistics, there are more chapters in which Serbia has progressed this year compared to last year, and fewer chapters where it stagnated”, said Ms. Nursdorfer.  The speakers before the discussion were Ivan Pavlovic, from the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects and Prof.dr Boban Stojanovic, the professor at the Faculty of Economics in Nis and the President of the Nis Society of Economists. “The report is mostly moderately critically oriented, but it is important for us that there is not a constant regression on this path to the European Union,” said Professor Stojanovic. “In the economy, it is essential that there is fiscal stability, solid maintenance of external debt, a surplus in the budget, and all other preconditions for Serbia’s stability and progress. However, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises could be faster and the stagnation of domestic investments has been noted. ” “The local level is very important for economic development, and City of Nis has the highest results regarding the raising capacity of local self-government units in the process of European integration, and thus adequately responding to the needs of the economy, and on the other hand there are investors who are looking for competitive local self-government like Nis. The number of open companies in the city has increased, the unemployment is reduced, and the economic growth rate has increased, “Pavlovic said. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions and actively participate in the discussion on this year’s European Commission Report on Serbia. The most important conclusions of the report can be found on the website of the EU Delegation to Serbia.

July 1

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic hosted the reception for the representatives of the FIBA, the officials and representatives of all teams, the participants of the Women’s EuroBasket 2019 – Group C (Hungary, Turkey, Italy, Slovenia). On this occasion Mayor Bulatovic emphasized that the City of Nis was honored by the opportunity of hosting the Women’s EuroBasket 2019 and thanked everyone involved in organizing such a serious project that has so far passed in the best possible way. The City of Nis justified its role as a good host and organizer. Mr. Luc Vergoossen, the representative of FIBA, spoke on the behalf of FIBA officials and thanked everyone participating in the organization of the group C competition in Nis on excellent organization and great hospitality.

Emerging Europe, intelligence and networking platform that translates the region to the world and the world to the region, has announced the names of the 120 companies, organisations and individuals who have been nominated for its 2019 awards. The City of Nis has been nominated for Emerging Europe Award in the category of City FDI Promotion Strategy of the Year. This category assessed strategy of city/municipal investment promotion departments or agencies (in this case City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects)  in 2018 evaluating their creativity, effectiveness and success. City of Nis will be competing for this prestigious award with the cities of Debrecen in Hungary, Galati in Romania, Klaipeda in Lithuania, and the cities of Krakow, Lodz, Poznań, Wroclaw and Sosnowiec in Poland. This is another confirmation that the team of professionals working on attracting foreign direct investments performs their work in the best possible way, with the strong support of city leadership, but also that this teamwork and dedicated work is recognized not only in Serbia, but in Europe as well.  The winners of the awards will be announced at a special ceremony to be held as part of the Emerging Europe Leaders’ Meeting and Awards, which takes place on June 27-28 in London at the headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

June 26

The beginning of the International Exercise on Disaster Consequence Management Serbia 2019 was marked at the Serbian Russian Humanitarian Center in Nis.  The exercise is jointly organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, with the participation of about 700 representatives of rescue units from Serbia, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Hungary, Turkey, Cuba and the Russian-Armenian Humanitarian Center. In the next three days, they will demonstrate their training and equipment for disaster response and disaster consequence management in several locations in Nis and the surrounding area. The ceremony of the beginning of the exercise was attended by the Deputy Minister of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of Russia Alexander Chuprian and State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Interior Milosav Milickovic who pointed out the importance of prevention, joint exercises and training, bearing in mind the changing weather conditions, climate change, and challenges we were facing which did not distinguish the state and administrative boundaries. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his deputy Milos Bandjur, as well as a large number of high officials of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Emergency Situation Sector, the Gendarmerie, and the Mountain Rescue Service, the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations and specialized units from Serbia attended the opening ceremony. After the opening ceremony, the demonstration exercise of the members of the Emergency Situations Department of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia was shown, and the following days of the specialized team would demonstrate their skills and training at several locations in Nis and the surrounding area.