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GRANTS FOR COMPANIES, ENTREPRENEURS, SCIENTIFIC – EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, CLUSTERS AND ASSOCIATIONS FROM NIS

December 6th

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.




RECEPTION FOR AMBASSADOR OF DENMARK

December 3rd

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.




ROMACTED PROGRAMME PRESENTED

November 28th

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.




GROUND BREAKNG CEREMONY FOR SCIENCE TECHNOLOGICAL PARK

November 23rd

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.




140th ANNIVERSARY OF THE STEVAN SREMAC GRAMMAR SCHOOL

140 years ago, First Grammar School Stevan Sremac was founded. The school started working by the Order of Prince Milan Obrenovic, on September 27th, 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”.




MILOS MILOSEVIC APPOINTED AS NEW ASSISTANT MAYOR

November 21st

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.




MEETING WITH US AMBASSADOR

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.




NEW FLIGHTS FROM NIS TO VIENNA

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.

 




STUDENTS FROM THE NETHERLANDS VISITING NIS

The students and professors from the Dutch city of Lermond, who were staying in Nis as guests of the Law and Business Secondary School as the part of the traditional student exchange between schools, were welcomed today at Nis City Hall. The students were welcomed by Nis City Council Member in charge of education Mirko Zecević who welcomed the guests from the Netherlands and briefly informed them about the rich cultural and historical tradition of our city. Within this student exchange there are 17 students from Lermond and two professors visiting Nis. Lermond is the city that is located in the far south of the Netherlands near the Belgian and German borders. As the director of the Law and Business School announced, Milorad Gavrilovic, during the seven-day stay, the students from the country of tulips, would be able to get acquainted with our educational system and see some of the projects that this school was implementing. The students will also attend the classes during which the business operations of a company are simulated. The Delegation from Nis had already been in Lermont last year, and there were plans for another study visit in March the following year.




EU SUPPORT FOR BUILDING EXPO CENTER IN NIS

“The European Union provides continuous support to local development with investment of 300 million EUR so far, and the financing of the development of business infrastructure will enable the improvement of the overall business environment in Serbia and attracting investments, and thus a better life of the population”, as it was said by the Head of EU Delegation Sem Fabrizzi, congratulating the representatives of 34 local governments who have been granted a total of 40 projects worth six million Euros through the development program of the EU PRO. He recalled that the EU PRO Program worth 25 million Euros over a three-year period had been launched in March with focus on developing the economy and infrastructure. The program aims to contribute to increasing the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises, improving the business environment and improving social cohesion in 99 local self-governments in two regions: Sumadija Region and Western Serbia and the Region of South and East Serbia. Field activities are carried out by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The local self-governments will thus implement 12 projects related to the preparation of project-technical documentation, 19 projects for the preparation of planning documents and 9 business infrastructure projects, which will contribute to creating conditions for improving economic activities and attracting investments. The City of Nis is one of the local self-governments whose projects are financially supported by the EU PRO program. € 30,000 was approved for the development of projects for the execution of works for the multifunctional EXPO center, to be built at the location Lozni kalem in Niska Banja. Mihailo Zdravković, Nis City Council Member, thanked the representatives of the European Union and the EU PRO Program for the support in the realization of this extremely important project, whose main goal is to solve the problem of the lack of adequate fair space and to ensure that Nis could be suitable host for a wide range of events, such as fairs, congresses, meetings, shows and sports events. “The EXPO Center will generate gradually new economic activities in terms of consumption, jobs, income and tax revenues for the community. This will attract the participants to the new business area in ​​Nis and serve as a catalyst for other potential development initiatives, facilitating the development of private sector like new hotels, improving the overall quality of life of the population and contributing to the overall life and vitality of the community,” Zdravković said.