ARCHIVE
The procurement of these vehicles is the result of the joint project by My Serbia Association and NIS Company – the Vrabac Service, undertaken as part of the corporate program Jointly for the Community. This project was endorsed by NIS by investing approximately 15 million RSD. In addition to the fact that the vehicles will be the city’s new attraction, they will also improve environmental protection of the downtown area as they are electrically driven. Thereby, in partnership with the city of Belgrade, NIS will continue to work on improving the quality of life for all Belgraders. Contract on assignment of vehicles to the Belgrade’s public transit company was signed by Milan Ristić, president of My Serbia Association and Radiša Momčilovic, director of the public transit company BELGRADE in the presence of Goran Vesić, deputy mayor of Belgrade, Andreja Mladenović, assistant to the mayor of Belgrade and Vadim Smirnov, deputy CEO and director of the Function for Public Relations and Corporate Communications of NIS. Goran Vesić, the deputy mayor of Belgrade used this opportunity to stress the significance of the cooperation established between the city of Belgrade and NIS Company and to speak of the importance of the Vrabac Service Project. “I would like to extend my gratitude to Naftna industrija Srbije and My Serbia Association for their donation to the city of Belgrade i.e. four electric vehicles which will be a part of our new Vrabac Service offered to Belgraders to commute within the downtown pedestrian zone. We have established a truly wonderful cooperation with Naftna industrija Srbije which endorses various projects in Belgrade by investing up to 20 million dinars each year. The vehicles will travel within the pedestrian zone, starting from Ruski car, then across Kosančićev venac and back to the public garage located on Obilićev venac. They will be refilled using our chargers in the garage on Obilićev venac. The citizens will be offered a service as part of the public transportation system which they will be able to use free of charge and for transport solely within the pedestrian zone. This project reflects our responsibility for environmental protection, our commitment to electric vehicles and the very purpose of the pedestrian zone”, said Vesić. At this time, Vadim Smirnov, Deputy CEO of NIS and Director of the Function for Public Relations and Corporate Communications stated the importance of Company’s investments in city of Belgrade. As a socially responsible company, we recognized early on that the development of our company is inseparable from the development of the city and the community we operate in. We are glad to see such changes take place in the city of Belgrade which has a position of special importance for the progress of our country. For us, Belgrade is a good example of where we should be heading, in terms of changes and improvement of the quality of life. For this reason, we are proud to be part of this project aimed to improve the lives of our citizens. I would like to point out that our company intends to continue investing in Belgrade and be confident that we will complete many more projects in the upcoming period to further embellish our city”, said Smirnov. Milan Ristić, representative of My Serbia Association, spoke about the Vrabac Service Project and stressed the importance of the NIS Company support. My Serbia Association has been organising projects oriented to improving the lives of the citizens of Serbia for many years. Those projects were primarily actions aimed at encouraging development of domestic manufacture and enhancing development of domestic tourism as well as environmental actions. So far, we have managed to organise the Vrabac Project together with NIS. It’s been our pleasure to organise this project as part of the Together for the Community Program and I believe that these vehicles will in no time become one of Belgrade’s attractions both for its citizens and for tourists whose number is ever increasing in the central urban area. There are huge potentials and the city will hopefully embrace and spread the use of this system, with an increase in the number of these vehicles, said Ristić. Radiša Momčilović, director of the Public Transport Company BELGRADE described how the Vrabac Service is going to transport the population of Belgrade and its visitors. “Introduction of this type of transport in the pedestrian zone is of great importance for the citizens of Belgrade living in that area and for visiting tourists. The line shall operate as a 2.5 km long roundabout with a total of 8 bus stops at 10-minute intervals. I firmly believe that the users will be very happy with the service. I would also like to use this opportunity to emphasise the fact that this transportation service will be free of charge and will start to operate on 31st August”, said Momčilović. Under the Together for the Community Program, NIS has been working committedly on the development of partner communities across Serbia. By now, under this program alone, NIS and Belgrade have realised more than 50 projects worth around 210 million dinars.
