A Year Without Progress in Economy

Last year, however, the economy received attention from safeguards

to goods originally from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And the debate has also focused on the Law of Pays, Local Capital Investment, primarily on infrastructure, the crisis issue in Telekom and its process with “Z-Mobile”

As in past years, in 2019 the political dominoes have also contributed to the deterioration of Kosovo's ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business report, in which in the last two years it has scored 17 positions.

Kosovo's Council of Afarism Chairman Skender Krasniqi says that 2019 did not mark any progress in boosting employment, improving the business climate and increasing investment.

According to Krasniqi, unfortunately even last year was a continuation of 2018, with no positive difference in economic development. Therefore, it has demanded that Kosovo have an economic development strategy.

And also, unfortunately, 2019 is the continuation of 2018, in which we haven't had a growth or a change of growth, since in 2018 we had a movie of a more hopeful year, in 2019 we faced political problems that resulted in elections. Even those promises, which were made during 2018 that they would begin in 2019, did not come true, we did not have a change of promised laws for changes in administrative guidelines, for economic growth, a real offer to do business. So we faced similar problems, which we are embarking on in 2020, in the hope that this year we will have a new government, to be able to address the big problems that businesses generally have in Kosovo”, Krasniqi says.

The OAK leader urges the future Government to prioritize the economic development and welfare of citizens. Krasniqi says they expect to have greater co-operation between the business community and public institutions, as well as the realisation of promises given to businesses.

OAK during various activities with business on the ground has accepted hundreds of complaints, such as the strategic investment law, lack of supply, lack of qualified workers, internal trade law, and lack of economic court

“We expect Kosovo will eventually have an economic development strategy, because we have been 20 years without real economic development strategies. To have fundamental priorities and to be guided to sustainable development, which will also affect employment growth and prosperity, because over the years, other countries have managed to have a huge economic growth in contrast with us, billions. And we're still having big problems, especially because of the lack of this strategy... Not growing production has caused Kosovo to continue to have a major debalan between import and export. We continue to have 90 with 10 export trade reports. The agreements Kosovo has signed over these years, especially CEFTA and SAA have not resulted in economic development, but rather have hampered Kosovo's economic development”, he declares.

Krasniqi stressed, among other things, that to get out of the state of Kosovo, the countries of the region have had economic growth and export growth of some even 6-7 billion euros.

Even economics connoisseur Mustafe Kadriaj tells Kosovo that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj had given great promises that 2019 would be a year of Kosovo's economy, but that their life span is still far away for many reasons, even according to Kadrij the prime minister came to a dead end with the tax case, because in addition to having a solid economic effect, Kosovo stopped the time of development in an international and diplomatic respect, on the other hand Serbia took advantage of this situation as a victim to the international factor.

Kadriaj claims that Kosovo has nothing to boast about in the area of the economy, even warning that migration will be a challenge even to the future government.

“There is very little to give numbers from the economic aspect of the economy, because foreign investments have not marked investors' rise or interest, but we have an even deeper impasse or decline that this is for a country's economy like Kosovo is a small and rotating country on the part of democracy, we have a great need, for not good political luck being done in Kosovo by parliamentary political forces shows that we are not yet a state in which we can create a political, legal and infrastructure environment so that we are willing to see foreign investors see a place where they can invest 148x>, Cadij says.

According to him, the dynamic of prime minister's work until June 2019 was slightly more interested, but since his resignation in July there have been at least governance and work dynamics.

At the beginning of the year, the prime minister in office has been frequenting claims that 2019 will be a year of its economy and development. He even warned foreign energy companies.

The strategic investments, with the investments we have in place. In Kosovo we have several major operators operating, “Bechtel Enka” in infrastructure, but we also have a “Contur Globa”, very large investors who would be a big interest in Kosovo to have this investment happen in the next stages. We are also interested in this spirit to provide a shelter and additional American joint investments in the American economic zone. So, for that, we ask for your help to work together... but I want with you to make sure it's a year of economics”, Haradinaj said.

However, in November of this year's performance during his work presentation, Haradinaj stressed that the gross domestic product rose for 2019 4.7 per cent, and the number of employees from 2017 to July 2019 has increased by 10 per cent.

“612 million is the largest budget than in 2017 or 32 percent higher within 2 years. The gross domestic product growth for 2019 is 4.7 per cent, which is higher so far and capital investments in 2019 have reached 789m euros or 329m more than in 2017. The number of employees between 2017 and July 2019 has increased by 30 thousand and 648 or 10 per cent. Now there are some moments that have special weight in implementing the Trepca Law, laws for the military, energy independence, the law on wages and the law on the capital. So, decisions that will be eternal, both for internal social and economic development and security, as well as for Kosovo's overall position”, Haradinaj stressed.

Like the 2019 budget that was adopted late in the Kosovo Assembly on February 3rd of 2019, the country entered 2020 without an approved budget.

Another challenge, which sparked protests and strikes in education for nearly a month in January last year, on February 2nd the draft bill on wages in the Kosovo Assembly was approved in 63 votes for and 1 abstention.

But, Kosovo's Constitutional Court has made a decision on December 12th to suspend implementation of the Law on Salaries in the public sector, setting the provisional measure towards this law by 30 March 2020.

But at the end of 2019, the Kosovo Central Bank (BQK) has made a decision to raise tariffs for mandatory passenger vehicles. This increase in vehicle insurance prices, according to the CEC decision, is 26.6 percent. Protests have been held against this CEC decision, demanding the abolition of this decision.

The average local inflation rate has scored 2.8%, which is apparently higher with that of a year earlier.

While the Kosovo Infrastructure Ministry had made the decision that new cars, imported from licensed companies, will no longer be subjected to counterparts from the authorised company. Such a decision has been welcomed by the European Union (BE).

Also in 2019, Minister of Innovation and Intervention Besim Beqaj has resigned from the minister's position, this is the resignation following PDK chairman Kadri Veseli's decision, to dismiss the duties of all members of this political party holding public office and who are accused of corruption and nepotism.

On July 30th, Kosovo Telecom has cut the ten-year contract with the phone company “Z-Mobile”, while from November 28th all “numbers Z-Mobile” has been passed to “Vala”.