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By the end of this year, NIS will have supported 164 projects aimed to contribute to economic and social betterment of cities and municipalities throughout Serbia. The projects have been selected in the open competition system as part of the corporate support programme for local communities implemented under the slogan "Together for the Community". According to established criteria, the jury consisting of representatives of NIS and the cities and municipalities has selected the best projects out of the total of 1,173 project applications. In the selection process, the jury made sure that an equal amount of support is provided for projects in five different areas: sports, culture, science, environmental protection, and help to socially vulnerable groups. In addition, in selecting the projects the importance of resolving problems for the local community was assessed, as well as the level of inclusion of the local community in all the phases of the project, the justification of the budget with respect to the proposed activities, the relevance of the problems that the project focuses on with respect to the needs of the local community, and the alignment between the set goals, the proposed activities, and the expected results. This year, NIS has earmarked 110.5 million dinars for projects to be implemented by citizen associations, and sports and professional associations based in the 11 municipalities with which the company has a collaboration agreement: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Pančevo, Zrenjanin, Kikinda, Novi Bečej, Žitište, Kanjiža, Srbobran, and Čačak, The projects selected in 2014 will contribute to the education of the local population in the area of ecology, to the inclusion of young people and special, vulnerable groups in sporting activities, the affirmation and promotion of a healthy lifestyle, and revitalization and improvement of cultural, educational, and sport facilities, activities and events. The deadline for project implementation is 31 December 2014. The open competition results are published on http://zajednicizajedno.nis.eu/, as well as on local community websites. Additional information: For the sixth year running, NIS has supported the development of local communities through the social responsibility programme "Cooperation for Development". In the past three years, the programme has been improved by the introduction of the open competition system, through which 100 percent of the funds is allocated as of last year. Since 2009, over 450 projects have been implemented which have helped the development of local communities, facilitated the operation of numerous institutions, improving cultural, educational, and sport institutions alike. The amount of the funds has been increasing every year, as well as the number of project applications, which is almost double that of last year. NIS has invested the total of 680 million dinars in local community projects through "Cooperation for Development" between 2009 and 2014.
