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Awards Presented to Winners of Serbian Mathematical Olympiad

April 9, 2013

The winners of the first Serbian Mathematical Olympiad were presented with awards at the NIS Business Centre in Novi Sad. The gala event was attended by guests from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, AP Vojvodina Government, the embassy of the Russian Federation, Academy of Arts and the Mathematical Society of Serbia. For the purpose of contributing to the development of life sciences, NIS supported the Academy of Arts and the Mathematical Society of Serbia in organisation of the first Serbian Mathematical Olympiad. The 32 contestants were selected as the best ranked pupils from the state competition. Seven contestants from Russia also participated, even though they were not in the official competition for the International Mathematical Olympiad. The first place at the Serbian Mathematical Olympiad went to Maxim Stokić from the Belgrade Mathematical Grammar School. Žarko Ranđelović from "Svetozar Marković" grammar school in Niš was second, and Ivan Damnjanović from "Bora Stanković" grammar school in Niš was ranked third. The awards were presented by Dmitry Fomenko, Deputy CEO of NIS, Radivoje Mitrović, PhD, State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Nenad Borovčanin, State Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and Miroslav Vasin, Provincial Minister of Economy, Employment and Gender Equality. "It is a pleasure to greet the best young mathematicians of Serbia at our company premises. We want to drive young talented people to develop in the field of life sciences, because these professions are necessary for the progress and development of our company. We are certain that our incentive will motivate young people to pursue technical education, the driving force of any global economy. The best employer in Serbia wants to be the pillar of support of the best mathematicians in the world" said Dmitry Fomenko, NIS Deputy CEO. "As a socially responsible company, NIS recognised the significance of education, science and culture in Serbia. We hope other companies will follow their example and help build a society founded on knowledge. I firmly believe that in the future many of the participants of the Olympiad will be experts at NIS and similar companies, because today's business decisions are made based on well-prepared analysis that rest upon mathematical skill" said Radivoje Mitrović, PhD, State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. On behalf of the ministry and the Fund for Young Talents, Nenad Borovčanin, State Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sport, said: "As an energy company, NIS recognised the energy potential of Serbia – young and educated individuals – and named its programme "The Energy of Knowledge". Miroslav Vasin, Provincial Minister of Economy, Employment and Gender Equality, said that NIS supports true values and contributes that our society applies new technologies and innovation to be competitive in the global market. Every participant received the "Energy of Knowledge" statuette, created by Vukašin Bagić, a student at the Academy of Arts and the winner of NIS creativity competition. He was presented with an award by Tetiana Petruk, Deputy Director of NIS Organisational Affairs. In the beginning of year, NIS signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mathematical Society of Serbia. The memorandum incorporates the arrangement of mathematical competitions at all levels, with a special focus on preparations and arrangement of the Serbian Mathematical Olympiad. NIS programme, "The Knowledge Olympiad", will also include competitions in physicals and the Russian language. Every participant will have an opportunity to attend the NIS Campus in Bečići, Montenegro this August. Lectures are going to be given by the most renowned experts from Serbia and the Russian Federation. The Energy of Knowledge, NIS programme that supports this competition, also envisions various types of cooperation with universities and other scientific institutions. In 2012, the budget for this programme was more than 35 million Serbian dinars. Most of the financing went to Petnica Science Centre, universities in Belgrade and Novi Sad, NIS Opportunity and internship programmes.