“Vaji will cost over 2 euros”, how did it get to rise prices in the country?

We have failed to provide enough raw materials, and now it is expensive and expensive every day. The sunflower harvest is in September, and in September the first item to ensure a stability of the” price, he says.

The first subject for oil production, this company is imported from Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania.

World Bank data on manufacturing companies shows that 78 percent of Kosovo's production companies use materials or other foreign orgies.

In Kosovo, prices of basic consumer items in September have been priced up to five percent, and this cost has continued during October.

Prices of up to 30 percent are observed in oils and food fats.

The increase resulted from price hikes on international markets, which occurred due to small gas reserves and high carbon prices in the European Union.

The situation with the pandemic COVID-19 also affected prices.

The price hike alarmed the Government of Kosovo, which took some measures to subsidise local producers.

On October 28th, the government allocated 40m euros for subsidisation of loans for production businesses and export support.

Strategic national security sectors' wheat, milk products

Kosovo faces high trade deficit. Within a year, it imports goods from various countries worth 3.2 billion euros until it exports up to 450m euros.

Kosovo imports even more basic products, such as flour and milk products.

This high import of products is considered quite disturbing by Astrit Panja, executive director at the Kosovo Producer Club.

He says that two sectors, which must constantly be supported by the state, are the wheat and milk products sector.

These are two strategic sectors for national security. No matter whether we have competitiveness, the state must be the Guardian who protects these industries for safety issues. You can't be dependent on import for these” products, Panja says.

The milk processing industry in Kosovo is considered with sufficient capacity for covering the Kosovo market, but even this sector suffers from import addiction.

According to the Milky Farmers Association, about 60 percent of milk products from countries in the region and Europe are imported in Kosovo, while only 40 percent of the market is covered by local production.

Kosovo has never managed to meet its population's needs, nor with wheat-productive flour, says Tahir Tahir Tahiri, chairman of the Kosovo Union Federation of Farmers.

In 2020, Kosovo imported 159 million pounds [159 million kg] of flour and wheat.
According to official data, in Kosovo the need for this per capita product is 205kg, which is that 410,000 tonnes of wheat must be spent in Kosovo.

We haven't been able to meet the needs with flour from wheat productivity from local production since post-war. In recent years only 35 percent of the needs of citizens have been provided with this product. There's a missing state hand. A hectare of wheat is subsidised by only 150 euros”, Tahiri says.

Growth and productivity development are considered the main engine of sustainable development in a country.

But producers in Kosovo have consistently reported that they face numerous problems and without adequate support from the state. They have problems in access to finance, instability with electricity, and an uneven competition.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has promised producers that, in line with the government programme, he will commit to boosting investments in new production and exporter capacities.