Kosovo seeks markets in region for replacement of products from Serbia

Countries such as Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Croatia, Turkey and Italy are some of the states which, according to businesses, are viewed as options to replace final products, as well as the first material for production that were previously imported from Serbia.

The Kosovo government on 21 November decided to raise the 100 per cent customs tax for goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This decision has prompted severe reactions by Serbs in Kosovo and the authorities in Belgrade and Sarajevo.

International mechanisms such as the European Commission and the United States demanded that taxes be lifted, viewing the tax as 100 per cent, as a violation of the CEFTA Free Trade Agreement.

But, the Kosovo government, at least so far, has not backed down on the 100 per cent fee decision, which continues to remain in force.

Kosovo Producers Club Executive Director Astrit Panja tells Radio Free Europe that many of the production businesses are already working on finding suppliers in other countries to replace the first substance they had imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina's “Products for which 100 per cent tax can be replaced by local products, have sufficient production of different categories of products that can be replaced, for example: milk, cookie oil can be replaced with local products. There's a part of the first class that needs to be found an alternative because it's not produced in Kosovo and the states that are being studied by businesses are: Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Albania”, Panja points out.

Producer companies, Panja adds, must make a very quick solution to replace raw materials, otherwise production could be halted. It shows that most producers in Kosovo have a list of suppliers which they now exploit after the 100 per cent tax.

Another tax - affected sector is construction. Brahim Selimaj from the Kosovo Construction Association tells Radio Free Europe that all products which are imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can easily be replaced.

Today we have all the open boundaries across Europe and the world where we can import products in this sector and which are quality ones. The alternative to replacing these products is Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania and many other countries. Nothing will change. Only transportation can cost the most”, he points out.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Economic Ode Chairman Berat Rukiqi. Days earlier, he had made it known that producing businesses, but also trading in Kosovo, have begun to find alternatives to replacing products or raw materials in other countries.

Rukiqi has stressed that she has forwarded a list to Turkey's chairman of the Economic Ode of some goods -- raw materials that are not produced in Kosovo -- in order to become the fastest supplies without market shortages.

Meanwhile, according to Kosovo Customs data so far, it is not seen that any larger import has taken place from any other country.

The Adriatic Stavileci, spokesman for Kosovo Customs, in a conversation for Free Radio Europe, says imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have scored, but that no import rise from any other country is seen.

According to him, pre-tax with Serbia in one day has been imported goods worth 1.2m euros, so that for now for 14 days import from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina has dropped to 140 thousand euros.

The import trade has continued to be the same, but in a decline from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a 100 percent tax. It is early for businesses to have new contracts or other supply routes, this analysis can take place after a given period of”, Stavileci says.

Otherwise, the Government of Kosovo's decision on customs tax application at 100 per cent value to products imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina has contributed to the raising of prices of certain essential food items in Kosovo. Of the essential expensive food products are flour, bread, sugar, and oil.