June 22^nd

The Vice President of the Government of Serbia and the President of the Gender Equality Coordination Body, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic, presented in Nis the keys of the car, which would be used for the transportation of women and children victims of domestic violence in this city who are accommodated at the Safe House in Nis. Mihajlovic said at a press conference held at Nis City Hall that over five years more than 500 women passed through the safe house, and that every tenth of them was over 60 years old. “This is especially worrying, because they are our grandmothers, aunts, mothers, who suffered violence,” Mihajlovic said. She said that the Ministry supported 10 projects in safe houses, for which 10 million dinars were allocated. “We also plan to donate computers, which will no longer be used in the Government, as a gift to safe houses, and we will try to involve other ministries. This is especially important for children in safe houses, because we want to help them have better conditions to grow and develop despite the difficulties they face, “Mihajlovic said.”It is the task of all of us to help, to have as little as possible women and children staying in safe houses, and to create conditions for them to live freely again,” Mihajlovic said. She added that the car for safe house in Nis was donated by RS Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, and that it was used car which was serviced and it would be of help in the daily functioning, primarily when safe house dweller need to go to court or the social care center. The keys to the car were delivered to Mrs. Sonja Scekic, the director of the Safe House in Nis.

Mrs. Scekic thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for her donation to the institution which provided 24-hour protection to victims of domestic violence, adding that the promise made during her previous visit to the Safe House in November 2016 was fulfilled. “The Deputy Prime Minister is constantly taking care of safe houses. Besides the donation in cars we have signed the contract for the project “Protect Yourself with Greenery” which would enable the green fence to be made around the safe house. Mrs. Scekic added that expressed concern was at the same time the message to all women who might be suffering the violence, to report it because they were not alone, they had the support and the state cared about them.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic thanked, on the behalf of the City of Nis, to the Deputy PM Zorana Mihajlovic, for the donation, and pointed out that he was extremely pleased because the Deputy Prime Minister had the opportunity to learn more about all the projects implemented in Nis with the support of the Government of the Republic of Serbia at a meeting with the management of the city and city municipalities.

June 19^th

Gallery Serbia will be temporarily moved to the Officers’ Mess Building until the City of Nis finds the best solutions for this institution of culture, said Mayor Darko Bulatovic during the visit to the renovation of one of the hall at Officers’ Mess Buildings. The Depot, for now, remains where it is, in the building at King Milan Square, the Mayor added. This was a necessary solution because the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts remained without the exhibition space Gallery Serbia because the building on King Milan Square was returned to the heirs of the former owners. “This is an optimal solution, the building is air-conditioned, representative and can be adequate for the exhibitions planned by the Gallery. In the following period, we will make the final decision whether the City will buy a new, adequate space for the Gallery and the depot, or it will be a completely new building. We are considering and looking for the best solution, “said the Mayor. The first exhibition in the new space is expected on June 27^th. It is the exhibition of painter and professor from Belgrade, Sinisa Zikic.

The Officers’ Mess Building was renovated in April last year, and it was opened officially by an exhibition of prints by famous French artist Anthony Matisse. This building is famous for Nis Declaration of 2014. The building is under the protection of the state as a historical monument, the City of Nis and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia allocated just over 100 million dinars for its renovation.

  June 19^th

17 talented secondary school students and 85 university students received the City of Nis scholarships for which the city allocated 14 million dinars from the city budget. The amount of monthly scholarship is six thousand dinars.

The contracts on scholarships were delivered to the secondary school and university students by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who, on this occasion, said that the knowledge must be invested into. He stressed that this year the scholarships were higher than the previous year and that the goal of local self-government was to increase their amount. “We will strive to invest in the next few years even more in what the pillars of family, community and society as a whole are, and that is certainly education,” said Mayor Darko Bulatovic at the scholarship award ceremony. He also announced the Vidovdan awards for students who won the highest positions in republic and international competitions.

June 19^th

The best pilots from 30 countries of the world, from all continents, came to Nis for the World Cup in Paragliding, in cross-country flying, which will be held until June 24^th in Nis. The best pilots, 130 of them, will compete in racing on altitudes up to 3,500 meters.

“Here are the best pilots of the world, our dear guests. We are honored that we can be their hosts. We will do everything that is necessary, and we have already done a lot of things during the preparation period for this cup, so that the competition can be held to everyone’s satisfaction. In addition to the impressions that they will have from the angle from which they observe the world, besides the adrenaline, which undoubtedly this sport provides, as I am informed, the greatest impression is of the beautiful nature of the south of Serbia. We have something to boast about and be proud of. I am sure that our dear guests will have the best memoires of the beautiful nature”, as Mayor Bulatovic said. He added that the local self-government did everything that was necessary in order for this competition be organized in the best possible way.

“During the past year, we had many activities, many high level organizations of global and European significance; we organized the stay of the RS Government in Nis. And now everything is much easier. We are pleased to be the hosts and organizers of all the contents that this city needs and which we have been missing for decades” as Buylatovic said.
The Paragliding World Cup was organized by the Aeronautical Association of Serbia, supported by the line ministry, the City of Nis and the City Municipality of Pantelej.

June 19^th

The representatives of Serbia will fight at the Naissus Boxing Night that will be held at the Nis Quay Amphitheater on June 30^th, as it was announced at the press conference held at Nis City Hall. The goal of this event is to get the boxing back to Serbia, since it has been neglected recently, despite the great tradition that this sport has in our country, said Nenad Borovcanin, the former champion of Europe. He added that Nis was a city with a great tradition in martial arts and, after Krusevac and Zajecar, the citizens of Nis will have the opportunity to enjoy the ultimate fighting of our national team.
Branislav Kacar, the member of Nis City Council, pointed out that Nis would have four representatives in the opening and main battles. Otherwise, this international event was held last year and the amphitheater at quay was too small to receive all those who wanted to enjoy the top boxing.

Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Prof. Banđur met with the Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Nis Prof. Jadranka Djurovic Todorovic together with a team of students from the faculty, who won first place in the regional finals of one of the most important and largest global student competition – Loreal Brendstorm.  The meeting was also attended by the Head of the Youth Office Stevan Zivkovic and the Secretary of the City of Nis Assembly Ruzica Djordjevic.

Aleksandar Djordjevic, Novak Stamenkovic and Jelena Todorović make the team called Stilistiko who will, along with colleagues from Croatia, present their innovative projects in the world finals in Paris. With the aim to attract as many young innovators from different fields, Loreal Brendstorm has prepared two competition categories: BRAND CHALLENGE – for students of economics, marketing and communication, the winner of which was the team from Nis and technological challenge for future engineers, and students of the faculties of technical sciences, the winner of which was team GRUM from Croatia.

The deputy mayor gave as the present the laptops to the students and wished them every success in the finals of this competition.

In the first quarter of this year (January-April), there was an increase in the number of tourists in Nis by 39 % compared to the same period last year, of which as much as 50 %more are foreign tourists, while the number of domestic tourists increased by 31 %.

The total number of overnight stays for the same period this year increased by 22%. Of these, the number of overnight stays of foreigners increased by 35 %, while the number of domestic tourists staying overnight increased by 12%

The continuation of the positive trend is expected as well as the increase in numbers of those who see Nis as an interesting destination. In the coming period the promotion of Nis as a tourist destination will be continued at the Days of Serbia in Timisoara, and then within the My Serbia Campaign during June and July, and at the Days of Serbia to be held in Thessaloniki on July 12^th.

During June Tourist Organization of Nis together with the Airline Ryanair will implement a joint campaign via the company’s website for a period of three weeks and in the countries where the company has direct flights from the Nis airport and thus trying to attract even more tourists to Nis.

Before a packed Saint Sava Hall the Fifth International Festival of Spiritual – Music Edict began. At the opening night two local host choirs performed together with the guest choirs from Slovenia and Russia. Slovenian mixed choir came from Jevnica, while Russian student choir of the Conservatory in Moscow received all the sympathy of the audience when they opened their performance with Serbian national anthem.

The festival was opened by the Mayor of Nis, Darko Bulatović, welcoming the guests to one of the oldest Serbian cities, the imperial city of Emperor Constantine to whom not only Christianity, but also the whole civilization owed a lot because of his work.

Nis City Council Member Mrs. Jelena Mitrovski met today with the participants of the scientific conference Nis and Byzantium which, on the occasion of the city festivity days celebrating city patron St. Emperor Constantine and St. Empress Helen, was held in Nis.
It is a prestigious scientific conference which has been organized in our city for 16 years, and, which brings together world-renowned scholars studying Byzantine period. This year’s scientific symposium Nis and Byzantium was the central Serbian scientific conference dedicated to the most important event in the history of Serbian statehood , i.e., the 800^th anniversary of the First Serbian Kingdom and the coronation of Stefan the First Crowned. It is a great tribute to the efforts of the organizers to keep this conference going for so many years and to be a good host and preserve initial scientific and organizational level.

According to Nis City Council Member Mrs. Jelena Mitrovski the goal was set 16 years before to set the profile of the symposium Nis and Byzantium profiled as a respectable international congresses Byzantium studying scholars, after which the City of Nis would be recognized outside our country. She thanked the participants and invited them to come and take part in this prestigious scientific meeting again.

“I congratulate from the bottom of my heart to all the citizens of Nis the days of our city patrons – St. Emperor Constantine and St. Empress Helen with the wish for our city to be, in the years which ate ahead of us, the driving engine of the progress in the South of Serbia, and that every following year, we celebrate these days in good health happiness and prosperity. In line with our rich tradition and values ​​on which it is based, our efforts are directed towards improving the quality of life of our citizens. To make the most of the opportunities that are before us, we need unity and cooperation. With the desire to implement positive economic and cultural projects in the years ahead, once again I extend my congratulations on this occasion, “as Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovi said in his speech.

Previously, in the church of St. Emperor Constantine and St. Empress Helen, His Grace Bishop Teodosije of Nis, presented to the Mayor the labarum with the monogram of Christ, which symbolically marked the beginning of the celebration of the city festivity days.