Kosovo accepts 13.5m euros grant from the German government

Finance and Transfers Minister Besnik Bislimi said these two financial agreements address the two major priorities of the Government of Kosovo, which is improving quality in education and increasing agricultural production in Kosovo.

After signing the agreement, at a media conference, Bislimi said one of the biggest labour market challenges in Kosovo has been the lack of good connection between the labour market and the education system.

“Among the 7m-euro grant from the German government will enable addressing these challenges in the country's educational system, meanwhile, through the 6.5m-euro grant dedicated to the Kosovo fund for loan insurance will enable increased financing for the agriculture sector in Kosovo. As you know, banks are somewhat reluctant to support the agriculture sector because of proportional risks with which this sector is associated, resulting in the total credit rating of the banking system a lot, very small or 3% are anchored for agriculture, through this grant, which is added to a former KfW grant for the loan guarantee fund now, this fund will now have about 11m euros to support the agriculture sector” guarantee, Bislim said.

He said he hopes that agricultural financing will be increased through this.

Regarding granting education challenges, Bislimi said the same would not only benefit the public sector, but also the private one.

And Germany's ambassador to Kosovo, Christian Held, said that despite the fact that confronting the Comvid19 pandemic, they should also take into account the socioeconomic aspect, in order to enable further development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

As far as I am aware, the 87m euros offered for the Kosovar fund for credit guarantees have, on the other hand, enabled approximately 180m euros worth of credit. It's also noteworthy to KfW, which also under these circumstances has dedicated a special framework to the agricultural neglect sector, as well as to the chain and circulation of life in rural areas, this represents a sector that we want to support in the future, so that we can see shelves filled in brands, because at the moment we see what great importance this is. So with this additional financing of 6.5m euros for this financial framework we will raise the capital of this framework to 11.5m. And I think it's going to have a very good effect especially after a few months when we're actually going to see the effects of this coronary crisis, of small and medium-sized businesses”, he said.

He said the Kosovo fund for credit guarantees so far has proved to be a reliable partner.

Two financial deals, grants by the German government, were signed today by Finance and Transferries Minister Besnik Bislimi and KWA Kosovo Office Director Rene Escheman.