Export blocked with Serbia, Kosovo product not sent for two months

No Kosovo product has been exported to Serbia for two months. Out of about 60m euros how many Kosovo has exported to different countries during August and September of this year no one has gone to the neighbouring state, Serbia.

So it becomes known in the data published on the Kosovo Customs website.

It also says that during August and September 2019 Kosovo has exported products to exactly 59m and 387 thousand and 738 euros to about 60 countries in the world.

Economic Affairs expert Naim Gashi for Arbresh.info has said Serbia since the post-war has been using forms for the inability to export Kosovo products.

Kosovo's “Export towards Serbia even before the tax was imposed has been symbolic means somewhere 1 to 10 has been the Kosovo export report to Serbia. Serbia has since since the war made major instructions on local producers by refusing to accept the certificates of product origin, the stamps of the Republic of Kosovo, and in that form has been unable to export Kosovo to Serbia”, he has said.

Gashi has added that Serbia has violated CEFTA rules.

Serbia's “requirements that we need to get confirmations at Serbia's parallel institutions in Kosovo, I think they have been compromising and deignive for local producers, and that way it has not managed to export to this state. Thus, Serbia has violated the basic rules of CEFTA, the Free Trade Agreement for Southeast European countries, and thus discriminated against Kosovo producers to export goods to Serbia”, he added.

And according to Gashi neither would tax evasion increase exports to Serbia while saying the main focus should be to cut import.

“I am skeptical about Kosovo's export growth not only in relation to Serbia, but also with other countries, the main focus of Kosovo's economy should be to reduce dependence on import of products and then go to policies for export growth, since we have imports of goods over 3 billion euros within a year is too much to say that we will increase exports. In fact, our national priority should be to reduce import and replace this import with products produced in Kosovo”, added Naim Gashi, economic affairs expert

And according to the Statistics Agency of Kosovo during August of this year, exports have increased by 4.7%.

“Export of goods in August 2019 was worth 31.9 million euros, while import 311.8 million euros, which is an increase of 4.7% for export and an increase of 1.6% for import, compared to the same period in 2018<18x1>, the ASS data says.

The same publication is said to have reached 9.1m euros to EU countries.

Kosovo's <x0ports in EU countries reached 9.1m euros, or about 28.6% of total exports, with a drop of (-13.3%). Key partners for export of goods to the EU are: Germany (7.7%), Great Britain (3.6%), the Netherlands (3.4%), etc. In August 2019, Kosovo's exports with CEFTA countries reached 13.8m Euro, or 43.3% of total exports, with a drop of (10.4%). Key export partners from CEFTA countries are: Albania (18.5%), Macedonia (9.9%), Serbia (8.5%), and Montenegro (4.5%). Kosovo exports with other countries of the world reached 8.9m euros, or 28.1%. As more important partners from these export countries, it's worth mentioning: India (15.4%) and Switzerland (8.2%). ”

While the products our country mostly exports are metals and articles from them.

“According to key export group data: 34.1% of exports make up basic metals and articles; 12.7% of exports make up prepared food, drink and tobacco; 12.5% of exports make up plastics, tires and articles; 10.9% of exports make up plant products; 7.9% of exports make up mineral products; 5.8% of exports make up different products; 3.5% of exports and machinery, mechanical and electrical equipment, etc. ”

Kosovo Customs data says that Kosovo has exported to about 60 countries of the world from those in the region, such as Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and other European states to the US, Saudi Arabia and Australia”, says the publication of the AK.

Unlike the year we left behind, Kosovo has seen export growth.

During 2018 our state has exported products worth over 300m euros compared to 2017, where it had exported products worth 289m euros. According to these export data, there has been an increase of 4.2 percent, writesabres.info

On November 6th 2018, former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj imposed a 10 per cent tax on products imported from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while on November 21st this tax increased to 100 per cent.