“Reciprocity with Serbia” breaks record in February, northern neighbour introduced over 21m euros in goods to Kosovo

As never before, in February of this year, the market in Kosovo has been finished with Serbia's goods, writes Periscopi.com.

Exactly 21m of 466 thousand euros has been the value of Serbia's goods that entered Kosovo last month.

Kosovo Customs data shows that in February last year the value of Serbian goods was 18.4m euros. In 2020, their value in the same month was 400,000 euros, while 500 thousand euros was in 20190).

In the first two months of this year, Serbia has introduced goods to Kosovo, worth 35m and 100 thousand euros, while importing with Albania has stood at 28m and 510 thousand euros. With Macedonia 21m and 770m euros.

Although, import with Serbia for two months has been higher for about 7m euros than with Albania, Kosovo's budget has been filled more by import VAT taxes with Albania. This is due to the fact that a large number of raw materials are imported with Serbia, which is free from VAT.

After a sharp decline in 2019, when Kosovo implemented reciprocity with Serbia that almost brought the deadlock of imports into the January-June 2021 period, the northern neighbour also found the ground under Albin Kurti's government, and moved back to the first place from the CEFTA region, which includes Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Kosovo Customs data, import in Serbia from 1 January to 31 December 2021 has been 243m and 466 thousand euros. Albania has been slightly lower in numbers, worth 238m and 600 thousand euros. Goods purchases from northern Macedonia 176m and 448m euros.

In other years, Serbia similarly occupied the Kosovo market with its goods. It exported 285 million and 300 thousand euros in 2014, 368 million and 200 thousand in 2015, 382 million and 100 thousand in 2016, and 387 million in that 2017.

“Serbia sent and Kosovo received products worth no less than 449m and 900 thousand euros from there, mostly from 2008.

The economic conquest Serbia was making to the Kosovo market for a decade (2008-18), the momentum halted the 10% tax first, and then 100% that the Kosovo Government, then led by Ramush Haradinaj, put on products of Serbian and Bosnian origin at the marathon of 2018. The total amount of its remittances from 449m to 900 thousand euros as it was in 2018 fell to only 5 million and 578 thousand euros in that 2019.

The tax lasted nearly a year and a half until 31 March 2020. On that date, he removed and replaced the new prime minister, Albin Kurti, with reciprocity. This presented him with much trouble during his first term. On the one hand, reciprocity was being accepted by Serbia, which conditioned the resumption of dialogue with Kosovo with the removal of this move.

Foreign diplomatic pressure made it its own. The LDK, which was in a coalition with the VV, broke the deal and created a new government with the AAK and NISMA.

Among the first actions the new ruler took at the time, Avdullah Hoti, was the removal of reciprocity with Serbia in June 2020. The northern neighbour, during 2020, sent products worth 190,98,000 euros. / P ERISCOPIA