The literary – memorial exhibition rooms dedicated to Stevan Sremac and Branko Miljkovic were ceremoniously opened in Nis. The memorial rooms were opened by Republic of Serbia Minsiter of Culture Mr. Vladan Vukosavljevic and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic. Having set up those two memorial exhibition rooms Nis has paid its tribute to the giants of the written word – Stevan Sremac and Branko Miljkovic, whose work is the cultural heritage of Nis and Serbia. Their legacy was declared a cultural asset of great importance in 2014. This project is dedicated to the giants of the written words that are related in different ways to our city and have incorporated Nis in literary history. About 200 original exhibits are presented within the permanent exhibition setting, and many are for the first time exclusively presented to the public. The literary memorial exhibition consists of two rooms and a front part which will be used for the organization of different cultural event. According to the director of the Nis National Museum Mr. Nenad Spasic the importance of these memorial rooms is great since they will enrich the tourist offer of Nis. The memorial room of Stevan Sremac will also have an ethnic character which will include items from that period.The author of the permanent exhibition Jovan Mladenovic.

April 7^th

In memory of the victims of the bombing of Nis on April 8^th, 1941, the flower wreaths were laid on the Memorial at the Old Nis cemetery. 400 citizens of Nis lost their lives in the ruins caused by the bombing by fascist Germany. On the behalf of the City of Nis the tribute to the victims of that day was paid by Ms. Jelena Mitrovski, the member of Nis City Council for Culture.

April 6^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic wished a happy Easter to the Serbian Orthodox Church clergy, believers and all those citizens of Nis who were celebrating Easter according to the Julian calendar. “I most heartily wish to you to celebrate this holiday in the spiritual and universal peace, in love, tranquility and in tolerance. May the sacrifice of Christ in the name of salvation remind us of the true values that will help us build a more humane society based on the ideas of democracy, freedom and human rights.”

April 3^rd

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic said today in Nis that the transfer of the “Konstantin Veliki” Airport to the state ownership was a development decision and that it was motivated by the large investments needed by the Nis airport in a short period of time. “If we do not invest in Nis airport, the number of passengers will remain at the number of 350,000 people, and if we continue to invest, we will have 650,000 passengers by 2021 and 750,000 passengers in 2027. The reason why the government made the recommendation to the City of Nis is not to close the airport, but to enable faster development”, Deputy Prime Minister said in her address to journalists after the meeting on infrastructural projects with the City of Nis administration.

On this occasion she reminded that in the last two years she visited Nis seven times since the Government and the President of Serbia paid special attention to the development of Nis in all areas of infrastructure – energy and transport, in road, rail and air transport. “The Government of Serbia sees Nis as a transport hub, which is strategically important, and our goal is to develop Nis faster. The airport will remain in Nis, flights will continue, the employees will keep their jobs and their number will increase, and airlines will continue to have their contracts and prices stipulated by those agreements, “as Mihajlovic explained.

She said that all the analyses showed that Nis Airport needed faster investments in order to keep pace with other airports in the surrounding area. “Our estimates are that it is necessary to invest another 15 million euros to enable Constantine the Great Airport keep up with the surrounding airports. We do not have 10 years to wait for the City of Nis to invest 10 million euros, nor is it possible to secure the important investments due to security standards through donations. The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government of Serbia invested EUR 3.6 million for the past three years and the City of Nis invested another two million euros through subsidies, and that those investments were the reasons why the number of passengers at Nis Airport reached 331 000.

“Let’s not forget that in 2011, 2012, 2013, the City of Nis paid to the companies € 3.6 million for empty seats so that the airlines would fly from Nis. A total of EUR 7.6 million was invested so that Nis Airport could have 1,335 passengers in 2013. The money of Nis citizens went to Montenegrin and Italian airline, “Mihajlovic said. Speaking about criticism expressed by the opposition politicians Mihajlovic said that Zoran Zivkovic, when he was the PM, even when he was Nis City Mayor, did not return the airport to the ownership of the city, but it was done in 2010. “I would like to remind you that a serious problem arose precisely in 2010, when the Government led by Mirko Cvetkovic transferred the airport from the state to city ownership but with huge incurred money obligation. It was that very act that caused the problems that the city was facing today because the City of Nis cannot pay off those obligations, which are higher than the city budget, today, “the vice-president stressed. She denied that there were any plans for the sale of Nis airport, nor that the decision to change owners was related to the concession contract for the Nikola Tesla Airport. “You will also be able to see for yourself when the handover is completed and when the contract is published,” she added.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the equipment and the operating of the Constantine the Great Airport by all modern standards required financial resources that the city did not have and that the state must stand behind that project. “We got the assurances of the highest state leadership that the airport will keep with all signed contracts, with new investments and that it will be an alternative airport to Belgrade, and thus, must be operational 24 hours a day. He added that during the meeting all infrastructure projects financed by the state were discussed, among which the largest and most important was the reconstruction of the Nis-Dimitrovgrad railroad, with the construction of a roundabout around Nis.

March 30^th

10^th Festival called Science is Not A Bogey Man started at the Faculty of Electronic today. It was organized by the Secondary Grammar School Svetozar Markovic. The festival was officially opened by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović who, on this occasion, congratulated the jubilee of promotion of science and knowledge. He emphasized that the festival became the brand of our city and one of the most prestigious city events. Bulatovic pointed out that Nis was the capital of science and knowledge of creative young people these days. He said that the City of Nis more than ever invested in young people, in their education and progress. “The city has started the first phase of the construction of a science and technology park and allocated 50 million dinars for it. After the construction of Student Creative Center, the place where all students and all talented people can exchange experiences and ideas, we expect two more phases of construction. After that, I sincerely believe that Nis will have all the necessary conditions for the development of science, “Bulatovic said. For the past decade the science festival has become the largest in its field, i.e., the promotion of young talents and science, not only in southern Serbia, but also in the country and the region. The festival was visited by more than 140 000 visitors and about 8 000 participants took part in it. It offers to its visitors the possibility to have a look at the world of science in a completely different way, reveals them an interesting way of learning and enables participation in interactive settings, as well as socializing with many renowned and well-known scientists.

March 30^th

Public debate on the Law on Climate Changes draft, which represents the answer to climate change and the consequences of these changes, was held today in Nis City Assembly Hall. Minister of Environmental Protection Mr. Goran Trivan, who presented the law, said that one of the priority tasks of our state would be, among other things, afforestation of the terrain. Trivan pointed out that, in his opinion, this was one of the most important laws to be adopted by the current parliamentary convening because it applied to all sectors of society. Trivan pointed out that this law was important because our country belonged to the regions that would be most affected by climate change, as the central annual temperature here was likely to grow fastest. According to the Minister, it is necessary to work on raising awareness, but also to undertake actions on a global and national level that can mitigate the effects of climate change. The change in land use, poor waste water management, forest damage, etc. led to an increase in carbon dioxide concentration by 40%, an increase in average annual temperature by one degree in the last 100 years. Also, it was emphasized that the role of local governments in climate change is very important, and for this reason it is important to hear what this law is lacking from the perspective of those working on the local level. Public hearing was attended by representatives of the city, city municipalities, public utility companies scientific and educational institutions, expert inspections and services and civil society organizations.

March 29^th

The Fair of Tourism and Active Rest has been officially opened today in the Cair Hall. The opening was attended by high officials and a large number of fellow citizens, as well as a large number of exhibitors. Director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia Marija Labović welcomed all the guests with congratulations to the hosts on the excellent organization. “It is a great pleasure for me to be here today. I wish you many more years of successful work and that next one, jubilee 20^th fair is really special. I believe that it will really be so, because when we look at what results we achieve in tourism in Serbia, we can rightly expect this event to continue to live “, Labovic pointed out. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed all the distinguished guests and exhibitors. “This year I would say that it is a little bit easier than last, because we intensifying our activities in one of the important branches of the economy, such as tourism, and it seems to me and we begin to understand its significance, not only because we are good hosts because we know what we have and what we have to show but because tourism is significant for our entire city and region, “said Bulatovic. He announced significant progress and greater investment in this segment and added that extra efforts would be dedicated to make Nis powerful regional touristic center of the south-east of the country. Assistant Minister of Tourism Renata Pindzo said that it was a great pleasure to greet the present guest and exhibitors on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and our line ministry. “I truly believe that this fair is just another opportunity for Nis to present and show to all of Serbia what it possesses, its exceptional nature, extremely valuable cultural and historical heritage, but above all that something for which it is most famous for  – the hospitality, “she stressed .

March 19^th

The Forum was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, prof. Dr Zorana Mihajlović, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Tomislav Dončev, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Čadež and representatives of the economic sector of the two countries. The opening ceremony was attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović. The results of the work of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Investment Agency of Bulgaria were presented, as well as the plans for future cooperation between the Serbian and Bulgarian economies during 2018. Economic cooperation with the Republic of Bulgaria takes place mainly through commodity exchange. According to its scope, Bulgaria is one of the most important trade partners of the Republic of Serbia.

March 19^th

On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the Association of Greek-Serbian Friendship Agios Mateos from Corfu visited Nis. The reception was held at Nis City Hall on the occasion of the concert of the choir from Corfu. Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovski met with the guests from Corfu who, on this occasion, reminded everybody of the traditional ties between the Greeks and Serbs and the great historical events that connect this region inextricably with the island of Corfu.

March 16^th

The members of the City of Nis Security Council, headed by the President Mayor Dark Bulatovic, met today in the City House with representatives of civil society organizations in order to improve the draft of the Security Strategy. The assessment of the representatives of the civil sector is that this I strategic document of a good quality, that it contains all the real problems that the City of Niš faces in terms of security and that it is necessary, through the action plan, to define priority activities whose implementation would have an effect on the increase of the security levels in different areas defined by the strategy. The participants of today’s meeting agreed that the strategic document must be sustainable and accompanied by certain financial means that have to be defined by the budget. Among other things, at the meeting, it was said that the goal of the City and the OSCE, which jointly drafted this document, was for this document to be realistic and to take into account the citizens’ proposals which could be heard at the public hearings as well as the proposals of the civil society organizations that worked on this document.