” Prices are expensive, disaster” Kosovars complain about food products prices

In Europe, Kosovo has the lowest minimum wage, while Luxembourg tops the list as the state with the largest minimum wage of 2,500 euros.

Saturday morning, Hasbije Kelmendi, a citizen of Pristina, had come out to buy food for a week. But she faced prices that she described as increasingly unaffordable.

The prices are a little expensive, but it's definitely a little expensive for food to give that with today's salaries and pensions, it's really a disaster. But let's see when it's going this way”, Hasbye Kelmendi, citizen, broadcasts Periscope.

For other citizens, price hikes have become a common reality. I think they're following the price hikes of all the items that are necessary for life, of course these are expensive for the consumer's pocket but we've actually become immune to this increase in prices that are happening every day. It's not just to have been the tree of vegetables”, Nysret Veliu said, citizen.

Meanwhile, businessmen in Pristina's Green Market say, although in some cases prices have dropped, the number of buyers has been significantly reduced compared to past years.

There is an increase in some items, but most have begun to lower prices. For example, tomato, peppers, cucumbers, and vegetables have begun to settle. Now it wants trees coming from other places, from the warmer places a little higher, it's the price. And those that are from around here -- for example, the tomato coming from Albania, the rails, the cabbages -- these have already begun to lower the price, as time has now begun to heat up”, said Patriot Macedonia, salesman.

With a little sale, there's not much sale. I don't know now maybe big competition, few people selling is very small over other years. “

The chairman of the Association “Consumer”, Ceatin Kacanik, considers the situation more than disturbing. It stresses the lack of a long-term strategy and the consequences of early privatisation of production assets.

“It's like we've been caught unprepared and today we've reached where we're paying for mistakes we've made from 99 here, starting with the privatization of the basket production assets and then making some other mistakes that we don't have time to argue about, and we're all getting blown back. They are increasing our discontent, trying to make our lives dignified, and of course they're lowering our social welfare standard forever in view of the poor class that is now 30 percent, but that layer is really bankrupt and bankruptcy is threatening the so-called middle class”, he said.

It calls on authorities to recognise the citizen as a consumer and to take concrete measures to cope with this crisis.