Gastronomers in big trouble, 30 percent of staff are fired

The chairman of the Kosovo Gastronomous Association, Petrit Kllokoqi, has said they will hold a protest 25 September before the Kosovo Government's target, in recognition of the serious situation created in this sector as a result of government-set measures.

He says restrictions on movement for both citizens and businesses should be lifted. The purpose of this protest, he says, is to influence the State to help gastronomy financially, since they are not able to cope with spending in pandemic times.

We can't afford our expenses, so we haven't had any financial stimuli, no subsidy, no different grants, so when there's no financial solution, then it's understood we can't respect the measures properly. The purpose of this protest is to stimulate the state to help us financially, as well as to remove measures and restrictions of movement”, he said.

Klokoqi has said that government measures to the gastronomic sector have had a negative impact, as 30 percent of staff is out of work.

The impact has been so great that unemployment has marked a 31 percent increase in the state of Kosovo, in all businesses, where I believe the most affected part is gastronomy for the percentage of unemployment. It's not finished gastronomy yet, and we can't get the correct numbers yet, but it's projected that about 30 percent of the staff has left work. We're collecting the different data, and every day we have economic death in the various gastronomials, he said.

Klokoqi has been begging gastronomists to respect the government-set measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, while demanding that this sector be helped financially and not be punished.

We always call on gastronomouss to respect distance measures, and we also call on institutions, important organs to move to businesses, not punitive”, he says.

As for closing and fines pronounced against gastronoms, Klokoqi says it is not time for penalties, as this sector cannot face various sentences.

Otherwise, the Kosovo Gastronom Association has called on citizens to join the protest on 25 September, ahead of the Kosovo Government's facility.