December 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with H.E. US Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Randolph Scott, and discussed the improvement of cooperation between the City of Nis and US representatives in our country. At the meeting it was pointed out that, in the past period, the cooperation was at an exceptional level and that more than one billion US dollars were invested in Nis that many programs, financially supported by the Embassy, were realized, but it was also pointed out that there was certainly a place for improvement of cooperation. Mayor Bulatovic said that, as a local community, the City of Nis was very interested in the realization of the American investment Novi Nis, for which the foundation stone was laid in April this year, that there was excellent cooperation with the company Philip Morris, but that as a city we wanted more US investments in Nis. Ambassador Scott said that he would do everything in his power to co-operate with the center of South East Serbia, and Nis, in all fields.

December 9^th

Up to 20 children from Nis schools will take part in the competition Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe that will be organized next year. The meeting was held with the school directors at the City Hall in order to get acquainted with the competition rules and audition for the selection of the most talented children to represent Nis. According to the organizers, the auditions will be organized early next year, and immediately thereafter free training for the selected children. Nis City Council Member for Education Bojan Krstic said that our city had many talented children, that the selection of the best would not be an easy job, and expressed the hope that those children representing the Nis would master the tasks. “Given that Nis was selected to represent Turkey, I am sure this will be an easy task, because in our language there are many Turkish words. Also, we owe the Turkish ambassador’s gratitude for recommending our city to the organizers. Relations between Nis and Turkey’s representatives in Serbia have always been excellent and this is an ideal opportunity to connect culturally”, said Krstic.

December 9^th

In the presence of Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and a large number of guests Special School Bubanj celebrated its day at the Nis City Hall. After screening a shorter film about the history of this school, the students had the opportunity to present some of the activities that were being realized in this school, such as a fashion magazine of t-shirts, made in the school, as well as the musical program that they prepared together with their teachers. Mayor Bulatovic, on this occasion, thanked the teachers in this school for everything they were doing for their students: “I am convinced that the teaching staff and all the employees of the Special School Bubanj are investing great love and understanding, unlimited patience, professional initiative, skill and talent, so that children could gain confidence in their abilities, built themselves as personalities, master knowledge and skills and satisfy the basic human need for self-realization.” He added that the local self-government is proud of what the Bubanj Special School was doing. “I am sure that each of us, whether he was different or not, should enjoy full and quality living in conditions that ensure dignity, promote self-confidence and facilitate active participation in the community. Our goal is to provide conditions for this, and I believe that, despite the difficulties, we will show that we are a society in which the equality of all citizens is guaranteed, “the Mayor said.

December 8^th, 2016
Anti-corruption dialogue “The fight against corruption at the local level” organized by the Local anticorruption forum, has been held at the City Assembly; this has been a closing dialogue of such kind for this year, prepared by this autonomous and independent city body.

The immediate reason for presenting the dialogue on the aforementioned topic is a current development of the Local Action Plan Model for the fight against corruption, the Anti-Corruption Agency is responsible for, in cooperation with the local self-governments and other stakeholders. On the basis of this model, all local self-governments in Serbia in 2017 should make and adopt their local action plans of this kind. It is expected that the Local Action Plan Model should also offer the model of local anti-corruption bodies primarily responsible for its implementation.

Anti-corruption dialogue is one of the measures within the Local plan for the fight against corruption of the City of Nis, which was adopted by the City Assembly in July 2011.

At the Anti-corruption dialogue event, the citizens talked with the Mayor of the City of Niš, Mr. Darko Bulatovic, with the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, with the Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Mr. Vladimir Joksimovic, with the Director of the Bureau for Social Research, Mr.  Zoran Gavrilovic, and with the coordinator of the Local anticorruption forum, Mrs. Zorica Miladinovic.

December 7^th

On the basis of the Nis City Council Decision of 29/11/2016 the Council for Human and Minority Rights was constituted today. Ferhad Saiti was elected as the president at the first session of this council, which was attended by Nis City Council Member for Social Care Issues Mrs. Tijana Djordjevic Ilic. The new Council intends to continue with the work started in the previous period with the task of providing recommendations and advisory assistance to the executive authority – the Nis City Council. At the constituent session, new members of this Council, who mainly come from the ranks of national minorities and organizations fighting for human rights protection, were also presented as well as the procedures for submitting proposals as well as the plan and program of work for 2017.

December 6^th

The IT sector is the most promising industrial branch in our country, not only for the owners of IT companies but also for the employees. The City of Nis is aware of the fact that proper investment in advanced technologies at all levels is the only real chance for the recovery of our economy and we believe that it is more than necessary to implement this field at all levels of economy, state administration and local self-government and education, said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic at today’s press conference held at the Nis City Hall. He pointed out that this was actually the main message sent from the recently held Advanced Technology Forum. At the press conference, the results from the Second Advanced Technology Forum were summed up and the conclusions reached by the organizing committee of this Forum were summarized. One of the conclusions is that we are lacking IT experts and that our primary task is to improve non-formal education for working in the field of ICT and other close branches, both through training and re-training programs, as well as through funding training at ICT academies, said the Mayor. He added that the City of Nis would try to promote the idea of education and science in the function of economic development in the following period, which would, as he pointed out, be supported from the highest state level. “The Serbian Government gives full support to the development of the IT sector and encourages domestic ICT companies that are export oriented, in order to create the best possible conditions for forming domestic innovative companies,” the Mayor said. Dragan Jankovic, the Dean of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering pointed out that the idea for organizing the Forum was in fact created by young people in order to find ways and measures to keep them in Nis and Serbia. “The Advanced Technologies Forum is not a matter of a faculty, an educational institution, a mayor or any individual, it is the forum of all Nis. This uniqueness of all actors who participated in the organization brought us results”, said Dean Jankovic.

December 2^nd

In celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the session of the Council for Persons with Disabilities of the City of Nis, attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic was held today at Nis City Hall. On this occasion, Mayor Bulatovic thanked all the people with disabilities for providing tremendous contributions and advice to local self-government in order to solve common problems in the best possible way. “I am not saying everything goes smoothly, without problems, quite the contrary. But with enough understanding, dedication and with the desire to move forward, we overcome the obstacles we encounter”, the Mayor said. Today is the opportunity is to promote understanding of the problem of disability and to once again demonstrate how important tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation are, but also the availability of institutions in order to include people with disabilities more in the social and economic life of our city,” he added. “We are doing everything in our power to improve and help greater involvement in all aspects of life. Unfortunately, there are still many barriers that we face as a society. People with disabilities continue to face unequal opportunities in terms of education, employment, and many institutions remain physically inaccessible. The rate of employment of people with disabilities is extremely low, despite the implementation of the Law on Employment of Persons with Disabilities. These are just some of the problems, “said Mayor Bulatovic. ”Ever-present problems must not remain invisible so that you would not feel invisible in your community, and I believe that this happens often to you. My associates and I will try, together with you, to solve problems one by one, that equal opportunities that are guaranteed to you become truly equal, and above all, we will strive to respect your right to diversity”, concluded Mayor Bulatovic.

December 1^st

The European Delegation in Serbia presented a valuable gift to the University Library “Nikola Tesla” of 50 books of professional literature dealing with legal and scientific developments related to the functioning of the European Union. The donation was handed over to the Director of the Library, Zoran Zivkovic, by Michael Devenport, the Head of the European delegation in Serbia. This library, based on its literary and scientific material, is an important place for science and education in Nis and throughout southeastern Serbia. Nis City Deputy Mayor Prof.dr Milos Bandjur, also attended the ceremony, and on this occasion he emphasized the importance of this kind of literature, which would easily find its way to professors and students interested in studying the policy of the European Union, but also to all those of our fellow citizens who wanted to be informed about the European Union. It is very important that the academic community in Nis continues to cooperate with the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia in order to realize the foreign policy priority of our country, which implies future membership in the European Union.

November 29^th

The memorial complex Bubanj will be reconstructed in 2017. The funds in the amount of 19.8 million dinars have been provided by the Ministry of Labor, Social and Veterans Affairs to the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Nis. According to Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic this project is of great importance for the City of Nis, because, for the first time, in ten years, the complete reconstruction of the memorial complex on Bubanj will be done. “The city is very interested in changing the image of Nis and the renovation of cultural and historical monuments is just an opportunity to show how important it is that the monuments that testify about the historical past of the city and the people who lived in this area present themselves to tourists in the best possible way”, said the Mayor. “The City of Nis will reconstruct the Summer Stage in the Fortress, sports terrains at small trench location. The city is preparing projects to compete with the competent ministries for funds. We are trying to make up for the missed and make Nis a worthy center of this part of Serbia in every way. “The Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Nis Elena Vasić Petrović said that the usual procedure regarding the tender and the selection of the contractor would be conducted in the next few days.” The works will start in the first half of 2017. It will be completed by the middle of the year. It will include conservation and restoration works on “fists” and “walls”, reconstruction of the access path and plateau, the creation of decorative and functional lighting and the introduction of video surveillance, “said Vasić Petrovic.

Memorial Park Bubanj represents a memorial complex, built to remember the citizens of Nis and southern Serbia who were executed there during the Second World War. Memorial Park Bubanj, as an authentic place of mass fascist terror, was placed under state protection in May 1973. In March 1979, by the decision of the Serbian Parliament, the Memorial Park Bubanj was declared a cultural asset of exceptional importance. About 10,000 inmates and prisoners of the Special Police and War Prison were killed on Bubanj. The entire terrain of the memorial park is intersected by the trenches in which the victims were buried. Before the withdrawal of the Germans, the captured Italians dug trenches and burned corpses, in order to destroy every trail of done atrocities. The location was originally marked by a memorial pyramid in 1950, and a new, monumental monument, the work of sculptor Ivan Sabolic, was erected on October 14, 1963, on the Day of the Liberation of Nis. The complex is arranged as a park, the memorial trail is about half a mile long, and a 23 × 2,5 m marble relief consists of five compositions symbolizing the “killing machine”, hanging and shooting, the rebellion of the people, the capitulation of the conqueror and the victory, and three concrete monuments that symbolize the raised hands with clenched fists. Each of the three fists is of different sizes and they represent a symbol of a male, female and child’s hand that defies the enemy because the entire family is shot. Nearby there is a summer stage. Since 2004, a glass and metal chapel was built within the complex, the work of the architect Aleksandar Budjevac.

November 28^th

This year’s second-in-line Forum of Advanced Technologies surpassed last year’s performance, as it was estimated at the working meeting of the organizers of the forum. According to the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic the Forum was progressing and the City would be the general sponsor of the Advanced Technologies Forum the following year. He assessed that today’s meeting was actually the beginning of preparations for the next forum and that the potentials of Nis in the field of information technologies were far greater than all that was currently happening in our city in this area. The Mayor praised the working team that realized this year’s forum and pointed out that Nis was slowly regaining the epithet of the “City of Electronics”, which it used to have, i.e., achieving the goal to which we all strived for Nis to be the City of Advanced Technologies. “Our greatest potential is people, university, professors and students. We all have to work together and promote the potentials we have”, the Mayor said.