FIRST MR. BRICOLAGE HYPERMARKET IN NIŠ Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and Brico Spec d.o.o. general manager Mr. Milen Hristov opened officially first branch store of the French hypermarket chain offering home improvement and do-it-yourself goods.

The Bulgarian company Doverie Brico became the sole shareholder of Brico Spec doo Belgrade, a Serbian registered company created to take the Mr. Bricolage brand to Serbian market.

This DIY store chain includes more than 705 stores all over the world and they employ about 11.000,00 workers in all stores. Over the next few years, Doverie Brico plans to develop four more Serbian stores.

FIRST MR. BRICOLAGE HYPERMARKET IN NIŠ

OFFICE OF HONORARY CONSUL OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE

IN NIŠ

CITY OF NIŠ COFINANCES 83 AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS

CITY OF NIŠ ERECTS THE CROSS DEDICATED TO CONSTANTINE

THE GREAT

COOPERATION BETWEEN CITY OF NIŠ AND CITY OF SOFIA

NIŠ CITY MAYOR VISITED THE CITY OF KOŠICE

REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

(RSEDP 2) PRESENTED IN NIŠ

ROUND TABLE ON THE LAW ON THE AGENCY FOR FIGHTING

AGAINST CORRUPTION

PUBLIC DEBATE ON STRATEGIC AND OPERATIVE DOCUMENTS

FILL TO THE TOP

JOB FAIR

36. INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF ETHNO FOOD AND DRINKS

SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF 4 PROJECTS WITHIN LEDIB

PROGRAMME

CITY OF NIŠ MARKED THE BEGINNING OF SCHENGEN VISA

FREE REGIME

NIŠ – REGIONAL WATER POLO CENTER

HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR IN NIŠ

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His Excellency Mr. Terral expressed great pleasure that France would have its representative in Niš. The Ambassador Terral thanked Mayor Simonović for all the support the city administration provided to the functioning of the French Culture Center in Nis and to strengthening the cooperation with the French embassy. The honorary consul of France in Niš Mr. Saša Miljković announced stronger economic relations through intensified activities of the French Serbian Chamber of Commerce and its networking with business community in Niš. Mr. Miljković announced also the future student scholarship for present high school students attending Svetozar Marković

comprehensive school who were listening to the classes in French. The future French speaking students will be given the chance to receive the scholarships given by the Republic of France for studying in France.

The opening ceremony was attended by Ambassador of France H.E. Mr. Jean Francois Terral, Ambassador of Bulgaria, H. E. Mr. Georgi Dimitrov, Mr. Bricolage development manager Mr. Bruno Cantoni and RS Ministry of Economy and Regional Development State Secretary General Mrs. Vesna Arsić.

The store offers more 30.000 items for home construction and decoration. Besides regular Mr. Bricolage offer of goods, the local manufacturers are also represented in the store. The investor, Brico Spec, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Doverie Brico, put nine million euros into the project.

OFFICE OF HONORARY CONSUL OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE IN NIŠH.E. Mr. Jean Francois Terral, the Ambassador of France in Belgrade, delivered officially the credentials issued by Republic of France Government and Republic of Serbia Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Saša Miljković appointing him for the honorary French consul with the office in Niš.

Mr. Saša Miljkovićhonorary French consul

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and Brico Spec d.o.o. general manager

Mr. Milen Hristov

Reception at City Hall

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Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and the Head of Niš City Administration for agriculture and rural development Mrs. Aleksandra Brzaković signed the contracts on co-financing the agricultural and rural development micro-projects on the territory of Niš City.

CITY OF NIŠ COFINANCES 83 AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS

248 project proposals were submitted for the support from Niš City Fund for Agriculture Development. The Commission consisting of 19 members evaluated the project proposals by checking them out in the field and by evaluating the references of the agricultural produces. The projects had to be sustainable. 83 project proposals have been selected. This year, Niš City allocated 10 million and 300 thousand dinars for the support to agricultural projects. Most of the projects referred to the procurement of the agricultural mechanization, the purchase of the cattle. Purchase of the equipment for processing and

storing of agricultural products and watering systems. The other projects referred to securing the protected spaces for greenhouses and improving the agro-touristic offer. On this occasion Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović expressed his pleasure with the achieved result in the field of agriculture and rural development. He stressed the fact that the agricultural producers managed to keep up the pace with the requirements of the contemporary market and business operations. He announced that the City of Niš would allocate 50 million dinars for this Fund the following year.

He also reminded about the support that the City of Niš and NGO HELP provided to the 40 agricultural projects earlier this year.

Contract signing with agricultural producers

The representatives of the Serbian Orthodox church, all political parties in the city, Serbian Army and Police and the representatives of the city business community signed the Declaration on Unity of Church and People where they pledged to unity and invited all Serbs and other Orthodox Christians to give their contributions for the construction Constantine’s Cross. Mayor Simonović pointed out that the year 2013 was of extreme importance for all the

citizens of Niš since the city would be celebrating important jubilee and he expressed his pleasure regarding the initiative coming from the pople outside politics so that it could not be interpreted as political marketing. The cross will be 80 meters high and it will be the biggest cross in the Balkans with adequate lighting system so that it can be visible at nights. The authors of the conceptual projects are Mr. Miomir Vasov and Mr. Dragan Zlatkov. It is estimated that the construction of

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović supported the initiative coming from Niš entrepreneur Dragan Milošević to erect the 80 meter high cross dedicated to the Emperor Constantine the Great at the hill of Vinik on the occasion of celebrating 1700th anniversary of signing Milan Edict.

CITY OF NIŠ ERECTS THE CROSS DEDICATED TO CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

the cross will cost 1.5 million Euros and the construction completion is expected by mid 2011.

Declaration signatory parties

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The City of Niš and the City of Košice entered the twinning project in 2001. This was the first official visit between two cities. During the stay in Košice Mayor Simonović met with the Mayor of Kosice Mr. Frantisek Knapik. The two mayors discussed the cooperation possibilities primarily in the area of culture. The year 2013 is important for both cities. The City of Niš is preparing for the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of Milan Edict signing and the formal recognition of the Christianity. The City of Kosice will be European cultural capital in 2013. This could be the link to realize the actual projects and to apply to EU funds. Also the exchange of know how between the cultural institutions could be very valuable.

Mayor Simonović and his associates also visited the Kosice airport which was privatized a few years ago and had the opportunity to become familiar with the actual methods of airport business functioning. Also, the city delegation had a chance to visit the complex of military barracks which hd been turned into the cultural park and which would be enabled to stage different cultural performances. The city delegation also visited the location which the City of Košice prepared for the potential investors. Also they had the chance to learn more about the project proposals which the City of Kosice submitted to EU funds, especially with cross border cooperation projects.

Mayor Simonović stated that this visit was very useful and he pointed out that the experience of Kosice would help out the City of Niš to prepare itself for entering the community of European nations.

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović together with his associates visited the City of Kosice in Slovakia last week.

NIŠ CITY MAYOR VISITED THE CITY OF KOŠICE

Reception for Niš City Mayor Mr Miloš Simonović in Košice

The main topic of the meeting was the regional development. Both parties agreed that joining efforts in improving the regional cooperation was of outmost importance for faster economic development for both communities. One of the potential joint projects could be developing the touristic potential of Lake of Vlasina which is located at the equal distance from Niš, Sofia and Skoplje. The readiness and intention of the Niš local

government to use adequately touristic potentials in the region is one of the preconditions for the promotion and strengthening the regional cooperation resulting in the implementation of the joint projects. The preservation and the protection of the cultural-historic goods within the context of modern city development were also discussed. Bulgarian delegation offered to the City of Niš to take part in the project related to developing

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and Niš City Council member Miodrag Radović met with the delegation from Sofia led by Vice-mayor of Sofia Mr. Petar Dikov.

COOPERATION BETWEEN CITY OF NIŠ AND CITY OF SOFIA

uniform act for all participating countries related to the topic mentioned above. The project would be financed from EU funds and potential partners are the City of Sofia, the City of Graz, the City of Paris and the City of Barcelona.

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and Vice-mayor of Sofia Mr. Petar Dikov

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This project funded by the Euroepan Union through IPA Fund and implemented on behalf of the Delegation of European Union in Serbia by an international consortium led by WYG International and including HCL Consultants, Tribal Helm and Oxford Policy Management. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacities in Serbia for the design and implementation of a policy for balanced territorial socio-economic development aligned to EU accession requirements. The Project Purpose is to improve the capacities of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and other regional and municipal stakeholders for regional development planning and implementation. Supported by an EU-funded M€9 Grant Scheme, RSEDP will encourage projects that will directly impact on job creation and business development. The grants under this scheme are specifically designed and targeted to create new employment opportunities as well as safeguard existing jobs. There will be two Call for Proposals, the first being launched on 30 November 2009. The total amount available for the First call for proposals is €3 million. For each individual Grant award the minimum amount is €300,000 and the maximum amount is €500,000. Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), municipalities, regional chamber of commerce, NGOs or other relevant organisations which are located in one of the following (“eligible”) districts: Podunavski, Toplicki, Branicevski, Borski, Sumadijski, Pomoravski, Zajecarski, Zlatiborski, Moravicki, Raski,

Nisavski, Pirotski, Jablanicki, Pcinjski, Severnobanatski, Srednjobanatski and Juznobanatski can apply with their projects. Under the First Call for Proposals, the projects to be financed should be focused on employment creation, have a regional context; strengthen cooperation at the regional level and the building of capacity for regional development. Examples of types of projects are:

actions in sectors and sub-•sectors which are important to the regional and sub-regional economy, which harness the employment creation potential from inter-trading, the localized sourcing of procurement, and non-competitive collaboration between enterprises;

the setting up and operation of •networks, and industry/sector based associations which will provide non-financial services and assistance to enterprises targeted on factors impeding the performance of enterprises in the region and sub-region;

Technology based actions •which will, by the end of implementation period, assist

enterprises in the region and sub-region to introduce appropriate technologies (production and management) to improve competitiveness;

Actions which bring together •research institutes, HEIs, other appropriate organisations and entrepreneurs to support the development of innovative economic activity in the region and sub-region;

HR and vocational/adult •training actions which address weaknesses in regional/sub-regional labour markets, reflecting market demand and sectoral and sub-sectoral skills shortfalls;

Branding and marketing actions •aimed at bringing together small manufacturers, producers and farmers within regions/sub-regions to enable them to enter markets closed to them as individual small manufacturers, producers and farmers;

New EU project - Regional Socio-Economic Development Programme was presented at Niš City Hall.

REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (RSEDP 2) PRESENTED IN NIŠ

Regional Socio-Economic Development Programme 2 presentation at

Niš City Hall

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They also discussed other aspect of this law application. The new law will come into force on January 1, 2010. Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović stated that the City of Niš had the capacities to apply the law and expressed his expectations from all the officials to do the right thing in order to avoid the conflict of interests. This round table was organised for all those who were

legally bound to report their report, primarily referreing to the municipality presidents, the presidents of the municipality assemblies, the members of the city and municipality councils, the presidents of the municipal courts, general managers of the public enterprises and public institutions. The organisation of the round table was supported by UNDP office in Serbia.

The round table on the Law on the Agency for fighting against corruption was held at Nis City Hall. Čedomir Čupić, Zorana Marković and Vladimir Janković, the agency team presented the new form for the recording of the property and income for the public service officials.

ROUND TABLE ON THE LAW ON THE AGENCY FOR FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPTION

The debate was attended by the representatives of the working groups who had participated in the development of the documents, of the political parties, of the city administrations and of non-governmental sectors. The documents were presented by the consultants who took part in the preparation of the Niš City Development Strategy which had been adopted at the session of Niš City Assembly in December 2007.

According to the organizers of the public debate, the presented documents were accepted by all relevant city stake holders. These documents are of the essential importance for the City of Niš because they will enable its development in all sectors. After adopting these documents, the conditions will be created for the access to EU funds and the implementation of the actual projects.

The public debate on the package of documents consisting of the Revision of Niš City Development Strategy, Operative Programme for the period from 2009 to 2011, the Action Plan for the period from 2010 to 2014 as well as the priority projects in the economic field was organized.

PUBLIC DEBATE ON STRATEGIC AND OPERATIVE DOCUMENTS

Čedomir ČupićAgency for fighting against corruption

Public debate on city strategic and operative documents

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In line with its strategy of corporative social responsibility that implies environmental improvement and protection, Piraeus Bank decided to donate 18 containers for collection of paper to all cities in Serbia in which the Bank operates. The container for collection of paper was put in the yard of Elementary School “Sveti Sava” in Niš in presence of Ivica Radović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, William Infante, Standing Coordinator of the United Nations in Serbia, Dragoslav Ćirković, President of the Medijana Municipality and representatives of Pireus Bank. Also, 60 cardboard boxes for paper disposal were given to the elementary school Sveti Sava and Medijana municipality

administration. On this occasion Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović met with the main participants of this initiative. He thanked Pireus Bank for their participation in the education of the public on the necessity of environment protection and rational spending of the natural resources. William Infante, UN Standing Coordinator informed the Mayor Simonović about Global Compact programme which was a strategic policy initiative for businesses that were committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The Global Compact’s has a unique constellation of participants and stakeholders bringing companies

Within the action “Fill to the top!” that has been initiated together with the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning project “Let’s Clean Up Serbia” which is supported by UN Global Compact Programme, Piraeus Bank today put paper recycling containers in Niš City Municipality Medijana.

FILL TO THE TOP

together with governments, civil society, labour, the United Nations. Mr. Infante stated that the intention of UN, espicially UN Environment Programme, was to extend the cooperation with the City of Niš particularly in the field of energy efficiency. Mayor Simonović was also presented with the carboard box for paper disposal for his office and for the office at Niš City Hall.

The Job Fair entitled Your Career Starts Here was supported by the City of Niš. 15 national companies offered jobs and professional advancement to the students and high school graduates. They were given the opportunity to discuss directly with potential employers about the current and future needs of the companies. Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović stated in his Letter of Support that the City of Nis recognized the potentials of Association of the Students from European technical sciences faculties (BEST) which was

working on linking the students and educational institutions with business communities, improving the cooperation within BEST network, and implementation of the projects aimed at strengthening certain segments of the local community. Milan Randjelović, the head of the Niš City Office for Local Economic Development, said that the city management understood the importance of connecting the students and business communities so that the graduate students could improve their knowledge and gain some practical skills. The city

The second Fair of job offers and professional internship, organised by the Association of the Students from European technical sciences faculties (BEST), was held in Niš.

JOB FAIR

intends to provide institutionalized support to the development of entrepreneurship and youth employment. The City of Niš presented the following projects which were being implemented together with partner organisations: formation of the center for development of entrepreneurship network in the city municipalities, Job Center, promotion of the entrepreneurial skills in secondary professional schools, Center for Career Development and Business Incubator Center.

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović got the card board box of his own

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The result of the completion of 4 out of 17 projects is the establishing of the centers for the development of the entrepreneurships in the Niš City Municipalities of Pantelej, Palilula and Crveni Krst and opening of the Business Service Center at City Municipality Medijana. The objective of the centers is to facilitate the cooperation and communication between the local self-governments and SME sector in order to promote the economic development and job creation. The economy nowadays is dominated by small and medium sized enterprises privately owned. Those enterprises represent the greatest capacity for economic development and it is important to have the enterprises with stable production which, if additionally supported, can extend the production and open new

jobs. The newly opened centers should encourage and support the entrepreneurial spirit, improve the availability and free access to the information relevant for SMEs. The centers will be great support to municipality management in the implementation of the municipality promotional activities with the objective of attracting domestic and foreign investments. The general objective of the establishing Business Service Center opened at City Municipality Medijana is to improve services of the local public administration to business community and to successfully reduce obstacles and difficulties with which the entrepreneurs are facing. The center is developed as one stop shop model of service center. The center will provide services to the citizens as well through issuing the certificates which are

Within the implementation of LEDIB Programme in Nišava District, 17 contracts on the realization of development projects in the City of Niš, in five city municipalities and in six other municipalities from Nišava district were signed in June this year.

SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF 4 PROJECTS WITHIN LEDIB PROGRAMME

under the municipality jurisdiction, the verification of the original documents, tax bills, pension and social security documents. The free of charge legal services will be provided as well. Thanks to the cooperation with NGO Altea on the project which has been approved by RS Ministry for Labour and Social affairs, the service of this center will be available for the citizens with impaired hearing and blind people.

They all had joint presentation at the fair. The fair gathered 290 exhibitors. Niš area representatives won the special award for originality, preservation of tradition, successful cooperation between the city management and citizens.

The agriculture producers from Niš area presented at the fair the product made from honey, fruit and vegetables, alcohol drinks and beverages, unusual products made from goat milk and mushrooms, homemade cookies and cakes. The food which is traditionally served for

orthodox Christmas was presented as well.

Niš City Administration for agriculture and rural development together with German humanitarian organisation HELP took 12 registered agricultural producers from Niš area to 36th International Fair of Ethno Food and Drinks.

36. INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF ETHNO FOOD AND DRINKS

Ortodox Christmas traditional feast at this year ethno food and drinks fair

Business Service Center opened at City Municipality Medijana

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The reception was organised at Niš City Hall. The celebration began with Niš Chamber Choir singing Ode to Joy - EU official anthem. Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović said that the introduction of visa free regime for travelling into Schengen zone countries represented the big opportunity for all citizens and that it was only up to us to use this possibilities the best we could. “The offices of the honorary consuls of Hungary, France and Slovakia which had been opened in the city as well as the presence of the Greek and Bulgarian consulates indicated clearly the direction into which the management of the City of Niš was leading”, said Mayor Simonović.

The celebration at Niš City Hall was attended by the Greek and Bulgarian consuls, the honorary consuls of Slovakia, Hungary and France, the representatives of the City management, Niš University dean, the students who travelled to Europe within the European movement in Serbia project, the representatives of the civil sector, the singer of famous Serbian band Van Gogh Zvonimir Djukić Djule. The guests set free thousands of white, yellow and blues balloons from the plateau in front of the Niš City Hall as the symbol of celebrating the introduction of visa free regime.

The City of Niš celebrated the introduction of Schengen visa free regime introduction for the citizens of Serbia.

CITY OF NIŠ MARKED THE BEGINNING OF SCHENGEN VISA FREE REGIME

Balloons - symbol of celebrating the introduction of visa free regime

George PsiachasHellenic Republic consul

Georgi YurukovRepublic of Bulgaria general consul

Zvonimir Djukić Djule, the singer of famous Serbian band Van Gogh

Niš City Hall reception

Niš City Hall reception

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The city will provide all that is necessary to support our world water polo champions and Niš Water Polo Club so that the city potentials in this sport could be developed the best they can. Nis proved to be very good organiser of the sport events. The match between the Serbian and Turkish national teams is the right example for this. It has been agreed to organise the match between the Serbian and Spanish national teams at Sports Hall Center Čair within World Water Polo League Competitions in January 2010.

Their performance was brought to Niš audience by the project Art of Giving. The City of Nis supports all the initiative which can enrich the city cultural life and which are helped out by corporate responsibility. The involvement of the business community in the humanitarian projects maintain the cooperation between the business and cultural city sector so that they can unite forces in building new image for the city which understands that economic development should be followed by the spiritual development and that cultural revitalization plays important part in the quality of local community life. The funds collected by selling tickets for the concert of Harlem Gospel Choir would be

Mayor Simonović said that the city was investing huge efforts to enable young sportsmen from Nis to become top level sportsmen. Our nation water polo team should be role models for our youth. The Mayor will initiate the motion to introduce swimming into regular curricula of PE for all 1st and 2nd grade primary pupils. This initiative will be supported by Nis Water Polo Club and the students of Physical Education Faculty at University of Niš.

spent on raising consciousness about energy efficiency in our city. The educational and health care institutions will be given energy saving bulbs. In this way, the project Art of Giving wants to draw the attention of the public about the importance of saving energy and that the overuse of the electricity implies the overuse of the primary resource for obtaining the energy leading to global warming and environment endangerment. The project Art of Giving started in April 2006 with the support of Phillip Morris branch in Nis. This year the City of Nis decided to support the project as well. The other initiatives undertaken by this project enabled the procurement of the equipment for maternity ward at Nis Clinical Center, buying toys for public park at Fortress,

Niš City Mayor Miloš Simonović and the representatives of the Serbian Water Polo Federation and Water Polo Club Nis reached an agreement on establishing the City of Nis as regional water polo center where the Serbian national water polo team will be preparing for the future championships.

One of the most famous gospel choir in America and world today - Harlem Gospel Choir from New York performed for Niš audience last night.

NIŠ – REGIONAL WATER POLO CENTER

HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR IN NIŠ

buying recreational devices for 12 primary schools in the city, buying the transport vehicle for the people with disabilities, helping out Stefan Stajic who suffered third degree burns, and helping out the couples without the children in treating their sterility problems.

Čair, sports center swimming pool

Daniel Lewis, Harlem Gospel Choirfrom New York