September 14^th

The Futures Tournament in tennis was opened in Nis which gathered more than 100 tennis players from 30 countries this year. Nis Open is important for young players, who have the opportunity to get important points for the ATP list, and if it is judged by the prize pool, this tournament is the highest quality futures tournament organized in our country this year. For six years, the traditional tennis competition has been assisted by the City of Nis. Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar emphasized that thus the development of tennis was supported, but also Nis was promoted due to the international character of this competition. The prize fund of the Nis Open is $ 25,000. The matches are played on the courts of the Tennis Academy Zivković at Bubanj.

September 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulated today all believers of Islamic religion on the occasion of celebration Eid al-Adha. “This is a holiday that is viewed among Islamic believers as a day of joy and peace, the day when family love is emphasized, but also peace and communion with members of the wider community, with neighbors and friends. I wish to extend my congratulations on the occasion of this holiday with the desire to spend it in love, harmony and good mood.” Eid al-Adha also called the “Sacrifice Feast”, is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two.

September 9^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council Member for Sports Branislav Kacar met today with the young kickboxers Danilo Ratkic, Stefan Paunovic and Nikola Lazarevic, the members of the Kickboxing Club Nis who won the medals in the finals of the world junior championship in Ireland. The current World and European junior champion up to 67 kilograms Danilo Ratkic won the silver medal and silver medal was also won by the European Champion up to 75 kilograms Stefan Paunovic. Nikola Lazarevic won the fight agains Kupijaj Mateuza from Poland in the finals of 57-kilogram category and became the world junior champion in this category. Mayor Bulatovic thanked the young men from this club for a successful presentation of the country and the city and wished them a lot of success in sports career. The reception was attended by the Serbian national team and Kickboxing Club Nis Srdjan Radulovic and the president of the club Oliver Paunovic.

September 8^th

In the year 1905, enchanted by the beauty of the Sicevacka gorge, the great Serbian painter Nadezda Petrovic gathered her Slovenian and Croatian colleagues with whom she studied in Munich. The first Yugoslav Art Colony was formed that year. The first art colony besides Nadezda Petrovic gatherd  Rihard Jakopic, Ivan Grohar, Ferdo Vesel, Pasko Vucetic and Ivan Mestrovic. Each of them imparted their imprints and dedication to nature and transposed it into a pictorial language and sculpture. The Sicevo Art Colony with its entire fifty-year existence has followed and in some way encouraged the development of contemporary art in our country, continuing the tradition of Nadezda Petrovic, which has survived for more than half a century. Traditional participation in this event is taken by artists from the country and abroad who have the opportunity to create in a beautiful natural environment. Painters from Lithuania, France, Mexico, Japan and Romania, as well as seven artists from our country – from Belgrade, Aleksinac and Vranje – took part in this year’s Sicevo Art Colony.

September 8^th

The constitutive meeting of the Council for work with people with disabilities was held at Nis City Hall. People with disabilities in Serbia are daily discriminated against and do not have the opportunity to exercise all their rights. State and educational institutions, city transport, cultural institutions, as well as most of the other facilities are largely inaccessible to people with physical disabilities, which significantly reduces the process of inclusion of persons with disabilities in society.

On this occasion Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said it was a common task to carry out activities in cooperation with the City Council in order to improve the position of persons with disabilities in the city at all levels. Also, City Municipalities will be actively involved in all activities that can help in practical way the achievement of the goals of people with disabilities through the adoption of technical standards and the planned elimination of architectural barriers. Cooperation with other cities and the exchange of experience in the field of social care is also one of the ways to raise the level of protection of persons with disabilities.

The aim of this Council is primarily to initiate and solve the problems of persons with disabilities at all levels and that is why the formation and operation of this council is of special importance because it is a key initiative body that should connect the institutions of the Mayor, the Assembly of the City, the City Council and the competent administrations.

September 5^th

Ryanair, Europe’s favourite low fares airline, introduced route from Nis to Berlin commencing on 4 September, with a twice weekly service which will deliver 30,000 customers p.a. at Nis Airport. Awaited with water cannons, the first plane of Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair landed at Nis Airport Constantine the Great. The captain of the craft was pilot Vladimir Milicevic, a Serb, who has been piloting for nearly two decades the airplanes of this Irish airline.

“As the city administration we are giving maximum support to the development of the airport, and we will do so through plans, programs and budget for the next year,” said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic. Ryanair chose Nis and Airport Constantine the Great for its partners in Serbia. For the time being, they are satisfied with the cooperation. Soon this company will fly from Nis to Milan, Dusseldorf and Bratislava, with a total of 18 weekly flights from Nis airport.

September 2^nd

At Nis City Hall the reception was organized for farmers who received incentive funds from the city budget this year. 155 farmers received a total of 25 million dinars for the improvement of agricultural production. A quarter of the budget went to beekeepers. Thus this year’s competition under the program for allocation of incentive funds of the Agriculture and Rural Development Administration of the City of Nis was successfully completed. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic personally handed over contracts to farmers. In the previous year, the City of Nis, through the Administration for Agriculture and Rural Development and within the framework of the implementation of the Fruit Development Program, placed the biggest emphasis on this branch of agriculture – fruit growing, while this year the Administration paid special attention to the development of beekeeping.

September 1^st

On the occasion of the beginning of new school year Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović, together with Nis City Council Member for Education Mr. Bojan Krstic, visited the elementary schools in Nis – Ivo Andric, Njegos, Ucitelj Tasa as well as Primary School Lela Popovic in the village of Paligrace which is under construction. This year around 2,900 pupils was enrolled into first grade of the primary scool. The City of Nis provided presents for the new pupils. Mayor Bulatovic said that the beginning of new school year was an opportunity to discuss current problems with directors, teachers and parents in schools.

September 1^st

By the decision of Nis City Assembly dated 2011, September 1^st has been celebrated as the Youth Day of the City of Nis, and Nis became the first city to have its Youth Day. This year, the Youth Day was marked in Obrenovićeva Street, on the square in front of the TPC Kalca plateau, with the presentations through stands of various organizations, informal groups and institutions working with youth and youth as factors of youth policy in the city. The Youth and Sports Adminsitration Department of the City of Nis presented its summer workshops for high school students, while Informal Group NI PHOTO presented its exhibition.

The stands were visited by Deputy Mayor Prof. Dr. Miloš Bandjur, and all interested citizens could get useful information about different possibilities, published public calls and education. “The task of the City of Nis is to enable active participation of young people in the decision-making process on the local level, as well as to improve the quality of life of young people, respecting their interests”, said Deputy Mayor Bandjur and emphasized that “the City of Nis is very interested in the development of young people and their contribution to creating a life in the city, and that it is very important to recognize and preserve talented and prospective individuals.”

August 26^th

The presentation of the results so far and the conditions in which the Safe House in Nis has been functioning has marked the five-year existence of this institution for the protection of victims of domestic violence. The ceremony was also attended by the Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic who had the opportunity to see on the spot the engagement of employees in the Safe House, which, in five years, turned out to be a well-organized institution.

Since the beginning of this year, to date, 43 women have asked for assistance and accommodation in the Nis Safe House, which is more than during the entire previous year. 10% of the total number of women who went through this institution is older than 60 who are suffering violence from their children. Therefore, the Safe House in Nis, in cooperation with relevant institutions, will launch educational forums for the empowerment of women and the elderly to report perpetrators.

Alcoholism, pathological jealousy and poor communication are some of the causes that lead to violence in partner relationships, according to the latest research results conducted by the Safe House in Nis. Women who have survived family violence remain in the Safe House for a maximum of four months, and at that time, professional officials help them to become independent, so as not to return to the perpetrators. An important message for all who endure family violence is to recognize it first and not to be afraid of decisions to report it or resist it. It is still necessary to work on educating young people, because they are the ones who will marry tomorrow and educate their children who can influence changing the wrong attitudes about family violence.