Albania's exports to Kosovo markedly increased after tax

Albania's exports towards Kosovo have undergone a considerable momentum during December 2018. INSTAT data confirms that exports in this period increased by 44.5 %.

Albanian Export Centre head Alban Zuse explains that Kosovo's tax on Serbian goods has resulted in positive for Albanian businesses.

“Albania, from an importer of cereals from Kosovo and Serbia, is already exporting to Serbia, because our grain processing industry is advanced and competitive in an economy with equal game rules. Other products are also mainly food goods. Construction materials have been present before”, Zuse said, reports Oranews.

But despite that, Albanian business raises customs duties as a concern. Despite the two governments' initiatives, costs remain another obstacle that is required to be intervened as soon as possible.

The transition of 1,000 euros in goods, which can be considered a small and medium-sized trade, requires tariffs for services totalling approximately 250 euros, for each operation. In addition to serving time that takes a few hours at the customs point, then we will not have to develop trade”, he added.

In mid-November, Kosovo imposed a 100% tax on Serbian goods. Reflection in the country's growth of exports was immediate, and an analysis of the data found that the building and minerals subgroups have undergone the most sensitive growth. This increase is found to have come from the reexport, where Albanian fuel companies import from other countries and sell in Kosovo, but also from oil produced in the country's refinerys. Steel is another product that has suffered significant growth.