Economy expert strikes Haradinaj: Tax used to cover corrupt scandals

Since the 100 per cent tax access to goods coming from Serbia and Bosnia, economic experts are saying relations have deteriorated with the US and European Union countries.

Economy expert Naim Gashi, in a proposal for Economy Online, says the fluctuation of these relations with international friends is a disaster.

“Taxa to Serbia's products has exacerbated Kosovo's relations with strategic partners such as the United States and the countries of the European Union, and this is a disaster where 20 years after the liberation we enjoy our relations with strategic partners and in fact tax on Serbia except that it was a blockade towards moving from Belgrade to Pristina and guilty of cutting off dialogue is Serbia, but should in fact be Serbia because it has not implemented 33 agreements signed with Kosovo<1>

Gashi said that for Kosovo, establishing reciprocity will not be easy for the fact that Kosovo has a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the Online Economy reports.

“I think that it will not be easy to establish reciprocity for the fact that Kosovo has a Stabilisation and Association Agreement under way, which imposes the implementation of some measures in relation to neighbours and we are also a member of CEFTA and they also account for certain restrictions. In fact, reciprocity would imply consistent measures with which Serbia places them against the state of Kosovo, and this is not just about the area of the economy, but it's about all areas”.

“I think that establishing reciprocity would shift the pressure of the International Community from Kosovo to Belgrade and that actually pressure would be put on these two heads of staff for reaching an agreement whether in the field of trade or through the implementation of the Brussels agreement that has been signed but were not implemented by Serbia”.

However, it criticises outgoing Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who he says used the tax to cover corrupt scandals.

“In the economic aspect of our expectations have been that with Kosovo's tax being reduced to import, and at the same time expanding local production, in fact what we have seen is that according to Kosovo customs statistics we will pass the 3 billion, import which is not lower than in the past year, and unfortunately we have not managed through domestic production to replace domestic products coming from Serbia, in fact products from Serbia have been replaced by products coming from the region and European Union countries, and in a political respect the tax has been used for major scandals that have been applied to the past 1126).

The tax should not be used in my opinion as an instrument to cover our internal failures, and the tax should not be used to make our relations with strategic partners worse, Gashi added.