June 17

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the Member of Nis City Council for Sports Branislav Kacar and Director of Nis Tourism Organisation Uros Parlic greeted the participants of the Basketball March in front of Nis City Hall. Thus the counting down of the last 10 days before the beginning of Women’s EuroBasket 2019 started. On this occasion the Mayor pointed out that Nis was ready for the tournament and that it would be the best possible host to the national teams of

Hungary, Turkey, Italy and Slovenia which would be playing their matches in Sports Hall Cair. The girls, the participants of the Basketball March, presented the official ball of the championship to the Mayor and then went on, followed by the drums, to march through main city streets drawing attention of the public to the start of the Women’s EuroBasket Championship in Serbia and Nis in 10 days. The matches will be played in Nis, Zrenjanin and Riga (Latvia) while the final match will be played in Belgrade.

June 17

The Sixth International Festival of Choir Spiritual Music “Edict of Music” began at Saint Sava’s Hall. The festival was opened by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović, who welcomed the guests, and the audience was addressed by the Bishop of Nis Arsenije.  “Looking back we can see that the need of a man to address the God in hymns is as old as his need for the prayer. By harmonious ordering of words and melodic chanting and music, mankind sought its path to the Lord from the moment in which the man felt the need to pray”, said Bishop of Nis Arsenije. “Here we are for the sixth time, I would say with the higher artistic and every other level, at the Edict of Music Festival, the pride of our city. Thank you all for everything you do and contribute to the cultural life of our city”, said Mayor Bulatovic. At the Sixth International Festival of Choral Spiritual Music “Edict of Music” 19 choirs from 11 countries from three continents are participating, and this time guests came from North and South America. These days about 500 singers from all over the world will sing in Nis.

June 5

The International Scientific Symposium “Nis and Byzantium” was held at the University of Nis within the scope of celebration traditional city festivities dedicated to the city patrons Saint Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen. The conference was attended by well-known Byzantium researchers from Serbia and the countries of Europe. 41 participants from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Republika Srpska and Serbia took part with in the work of the conference. Nis City Assistant Mayor Ms. Marina Kostic met at Nis City Hall at farewell reception with the participants of this scientific symposium, which became a brand and a recognizable sign of Nis. “The participants in the symposiums Nis and Byzantium for 18 years has studied and pointed out the importance of Nis as the city for the modern European civilization. This year the conference was dedicated to the 800 years since the Autocephaly of the Serbian Church (1219-2019): Church, Politics and Art in Byzantium and Neighboring Countries.

June 4

Huawei Company representatives visited Nis and met and discussed the cooperation on the project Nis – Smart City with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović and his associates, as well as with the representatives of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications. At the working meeting at Nis City Hall Huawei’s delegation presented the potentials and capabilities of this technology giant, which had already been implemented in a number of cities, and whose functioning greatly enhanced the functionality of these cities and had a particularly positive impact on the quality of life of residents. This is primarily reflected in the reduction of traffic and communal problems, which again leads to a reduction in pollution, energy efficiency, and savings in electricity and ultimately in saving money needed for the functioning of the most important city systems. The Mayor expressed great satisfaction with the speed of implementation of the agreed because, as he said, barely over a month passed since the visit of Serbian national state delegation to China and the exchange visits of the City of Nis delegation and Huawei Company delegation already happened. “This tells us about the importance of this project, but also about our desire to include Nis as one of the world’s major cities in which the Smart City system is already functioning and delivering excellent results, primarily for the benefit of the citizens,” Bulatovic said. Milan Dobrijevic from the Ministry of Telecommunications said that it was important to define the priorities and dynamics of the project implementation, and as soon as possible to determine the systems where the smart technology would be implemented first. “At this moment, there are a range of 15 offered opportunities and the expert teams of the Ministry, the City of Nis and Huawei will define the first three whose implementation will be foreseen in the first phase, and that will be those systems that are most visible and beneficial for citizens, “said Dobrivić. The Mayor also walked with the guests from China to the central Nis streets, presented the history and culture, and invited them to be guests of our city, but at the time of the summer festivals, in order to meet Nis at its best.

VISITORS’CENTER AT CERJANSKA CAVE OPENED

May 21^st

Visitors’ Center at Cerjanska Cave has been officially opened in the presence of Nis City Mayor  Darko Bulatovic, the president of Nis City Municipality Pantelej Bratimir Vasiljevic, the leaders of cities of Sofia and Montana, the partner from Bulgaria and the director of Nis Tourism Organisation Uros Parlic. The visitors’ center is 250 meters in size, the first of its kind in the Nisava District and it is intended for fans of adrenaline sports, cave explorers, visitors and tourists, and it will have a reception area with dressing room – wardrobe, cafeteria, souvenir shop and administrative center.  The visitor center was created as a joint project by Tourist Organizations of Nis, the City of Sofia and the Association “Love and Light” from Montana within the EU Interrerg IPA program of cross-border cooperation between Serbia and Bulgaria. According to Mayor Bulatovic this project aims to use and promote this great natural monument, educational, scientific and historical heritage of Nis and the development of tourism as a branch that occupies an increasingly important place in the economy of Nis.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of Cuba in Serbia Mr. Gustavo Trista del Todo at Nis City Hall.  The Mayor said that it was necessary that the traditionally good relations between Serbia and Cuba, which lasted for almost 70 years, to reflect on the regions and cities in Serbia, and that there were many possibilities for cooperation, first of all the possibilities for presenting Cuban culture at some of many Nis traditional festivals. At the meeting, the Mayor and the Ambassador discussed new forms of exchange in the field of education, medicine, culture and economy through activities that Nis would have in the future, as the largest city in the south of Serbia and one of the centers of this part of the Balkans.

May 17^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with Mr. Jakob Matzen, an architect and urban planner at the Technical and Environmental Department of the City of Copenhagen, on the occasion of his visit to Nis and planned lecture for the students of the Faculty of Architecture and Construction Engineering in Nis. This unique lecture will give an overview of the urban transition of the Danish capital and Mr. Matzen would share his views and knowledge on sustainable planning for the future. The lecture will focus on later years’ strategies and policies including bicycle culture, the climate plan, urban life and architecture policy. Mayor Bulatovic thanked the guest from Denmark for the experiences he would share with our students and teachers and said that cooperation at the academic level and the bringing of experts from other countries was important and mutually beneficial. The visit by Mr. Matzen is the result of the cooperation between the planning departments of the City of Nis and City of Copenhagen. Copenhagen is one of the best cities in the world by the quality of life – authorities are trying to improve and develop public transport and increase the number of inhabitants who use bicycle in everyday activities even above the current 50%, he said. Furthermore, the city is closing streets for passenger cars to make room for cycling and walking, and multi-level bicycle tracks are constructed throughout the capital.

May 15^th

The International Day of Families was marked at Nis City Hall. The joint presentation of the family empowerment program was organized by the City of Nis and the organization “SOS Children’s Village Serbia”. The gathering in the City Hall was also attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the member of Nis City Council for Social Care Affairs Ms. Tijana Djordjevic Ilic.”We have been implementing the family protection program for 5 years together with the Center for Social Work and we are trying to help empowering of this primary, but very important human community,” said Tijana Djordjevic Ilic. During the presentation of the program of work of SOS Children’s Village, it was said that the family was the basic cell of a society that provided security to an individual and that a healthy family was the foundation of a prosperous society. The Family Support Center Putokaz, which is committed to the implementation of the family strengthening program, has been already working in Nis for 5 years. By strengthening the family the society as a whole is strengthened at the same time.

May 12^th

USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Mr. Brock Bierman, and the cities of Nis, Pancevo, and Cacak signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to help their district heating plants become more energy efficient. The Memorandum was signed by the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the Mayor of Pancevo, Sasa Pavlov, and the Deputy Mayor of Cacak, Milica Dacic. The project for energy efficiency in Serbia will last two years and its value is 2.1 million dollars. The aim is to reduce energy consumption through improved heating efficiency at the local level. USAID will provide technical equipment and advisory services to Nis, Pancevo, and Cacak to increase heating energy efficiency, which will reduce the amount of fuel needed to meet consumer demand.  “The framework agreement signed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the US Government enabled us to sign this memorandum today. We are glad that USAID decided to support our city out of several municipalities they were considering. We believe that this will enable further steps in improving energy efficiency and that as a city we will make a full contribution. I believe that contributed funds will be used in the right way to improve energy efficiency, which will result in citizens’ satisfaction, as well as the savings for city district heating system, “said Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The Mayor of Pancevo, Sasa Pavlov, said that the energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources was a strategic determination of the City of Pancevo. Milica Dacic, Deputy Mayor of Cacak, also thanked for being selected by USAID for this project. “We are trying to awaken the ecological awareness of our fellow citizens through these projects,” she said

May 10^th

City of Nis and EU Info Point Nis marked the Day of Europe, May 9^th, by joint activity of 3 D Mapping Projection of the flags of the European Union and the Republic of Serbia on the building facade of Nis National Theatre. The facade of the theater in Nis became canvas for the symbolic conjunction of the synergy and joint efforts of the Republic of Serbia and the European Union in bringing our country closer to a community of European nations. This joint activity of the City of Nis and EU Info Point Nis was part of the #EUzaTEBE  umbrella campaign  implemented by European Delegation to Serbia and EU Info Network’s (EU Info Centre in Belgrade and EU Info Points in Novi Sad and Nis),  together with local partners with the aim of promoting the results of EU’s development assistance to Serbia as part of the European integration process.