New wave of price explosion again in Kosovo

Today, in the markets, supermarkets and multiple supermarkets, which trade white cow cheese “Drena”, an 800-pound package, its price had reached 6,29 euros, while the same cheese, two-three days ago in all stores, had a price of exactly 4,59 euros, or, in rarer cases, 4,55 euros. The newly raised price of this cheese, if calculated in percentages compared with the first two to three days, would be about 50 percent higher. And to raise the price of a product, even of a food product, by night 50 percent, the world's issue and urgent concern of the competent structures of each country would be alarmed everywhere at such a high price rate. It would have to be and be urgently of concern to Kosovo authorities -- for Kosovo's holders -- the government, lawmakers, but also representatives of different agencies and institutions.

But here, to us, in the world's poorest country, with the population extremely destitute, no one was shocked by officials and competent authorities for this price raised to frightening proportions. If any competent institution were to iron such a rapid and energyy rise, however, cheese “Drena” would not be traded at a double price overnight.

But it is not only this product that, at prices raised across the globe, was registered these days and today on Kosovo markets. Former Kosovo Prime Minister, now deputy from the LDK in the Kosovo Assembly, Avdullah Hoti, reacting (among the rare political personalities that at least with any status on social networks, or even with some reaction is expressed against raising prices outside market logic), even today for price hikes, in a Facebook post, has detailed that based on the data of the Kosovo Statistics Agency, basic food goods prices have increased by 64%, compared to the same period as the previous year.

Meanwhile, today, through information from Dragashi, distributed by Kosovo media, it has been announced that a citizen from Dragashi only four cut wood has cost 4.79 euros in cents. On the four - wood sack label, it says that this amount is “0.022 m3 m2 m”.

While one of our most attentive colleagues has calculated that at this cost one meter of wood in Dragash has begun to trade less than 217 euros.

As high as this price of wood is, it's not that hard to conclude. If those two awards, raised only in the last few days (the price of cheese and wood), but also of many other essential food products, were to result in much higher rates of basic food goods. Because in the KSF report, prices raised by the end of September are presented, and the prices raised these days are not included.

Whatever the case, even basic food prices by September, compared with the same month of last year, show enough how scary prices have been raised, those of necessary and daily products needed for Kosovo families.

They also show that in these months because of these prices and the decline of the purchasing power of Kosovars in general, and in the vaccine of the barbecues, they are burdened by a month's closure.

According to the AKS, in September 2021-September 2022 compared to the same period last year, sunflower food oil from 1.54 euros, now in September 2022 is traded at 2,52 euros (the price for 64 per cent raised), the price of wheat flour from 52 cents per kilogram now has gone to 81 cents (56 per cent), a cubic metre of fire from 40, 38 euros, in September this year has been traded at 625,35 (54 per cent), a sugar from 73 euro is made 1.1 euro per cent, or 51 per cent. However, the price of sugar has continued to rise significantly even after September, and now a pound [1.45 euros] is sold, and at this cost it is estimated that sugar is now marketed precisely percent more than in the same 2021 period. Chicken meat from 2,72 as much as marketed last year now has the price of 3,94 euros this year, eggs now sell 3.71 euros according to the AKS, while years in the same period they have been traded at 2.57 euros.

Significantly grown prices in this year's September compared to the same period in 2021, ASK has included oil, white bread, beef and beef, bananas, grinding coffee, milk, ingurt, fasulja, tea, lemons, peppers, rice, and other products. These are the prices that have erupted in our republic, reaching new records even compared to the countries of the region and the world, and compared to the purchasing power of poor Kosovars.

In Kosovo, basket prices, but even hygiena prices are significantly higher than in many EU countries, while it is known how the proportion of the purchasing power of Kosovars and most residents of the states of Europe lies. While, in Kosovo until now, even though it was known about the trend of rising to the sky of prices of all products, and the tendencies and actions of irresponsible businessmen to exploit the situation, in the absence of political will, in the first place, but even in the absence of individual and institutional inadequacy, no ways were found to deal with the outbreak of wild prices.

From ignorance, or from this period under consideration, not even a single measure, nor a temporary measure, was taken to stem the momentum of the price hikes of many basic products by irresponsible merchants, who did not stop in their quest to raise prices, exploiting the situation and anarchy in the country's price performance developments.

At times, temporary measures failed to prevent the transparent abuse of traders at the prices of basic products. As it is known, even at the recent meeting of the Kosovo Assembly on Thursday, October 20th, Kosovo lawmakers boycotted the adoption of these measures -- so much and so long, demanded by them -- by the Parliament's deputies. They left the hall when it was time to vote these measures, evaporated in the blink of an eye, as they had already provided wages for attending the Assembly session. Those who insist on demanding these long-term measures left the vote, those who terrorised by months for the <x0-dimensionalisation of government officials to take measures to impose a control on price excesses in Kosovo extremely poor. Opposition deputies fled the vote, but also left the post. All of this was done to depreciate the forum, so that there won't be a lot of voting numbers, as has become common practice in most of the Assembly meetings, especially when a day's turn is going to vote for any major development.

These measures, which is the truth, have finally been adopted at today's Kosovo Assembly meeting. And Kosovars, mostly poor financially and with well-being seriously endangered by the constant abuse of prices, which have direct impact on their poor lives, however skeptical most of them, still hope that they will not finally pay for every day the highest price of bread, sugar, oil, rice, milk, pasta, chicken, eggs, hygiene products, and burning wood, these pre-priced products in the Proliferation Bill of the Forecocitions in special cases of the market.

The Kosovo consumer, the ordinary Kosovar, finally has a small chance to believe that someone will deal with the problem of price abuse. Because, with the law adopted today by the country's lawmakers (not all, 62 deputies voted today on the roof price bill...), many essential food products are proposed ceiling prices. In this way, at last, you may be under control with price abuse in Kosovo as well, and however-where the attention will be turned to the care of what further balance of social status in the country. /Economic Bouletin