“Kosovar farmers say Serbia fills market with old wheat

The reason? The low price of just 17-18 cents per kilogram of wheat, which, according to them, is assigned by local millers, at the same time, to the main buyers of their products.

“We're protesting the price and dirt that they're doing, mainly millers”, said Genc Mazrek, farmer from Malisheva, for Radio Free Europe.

Many of his colleagues, who left towards Pristina with tractors, were stopped by police and were not allowed to enter the city, as the protest had not been officially warned to authorities, as the law requires.

Mazrek said that he has planted some 60 acres [60 ha] of wheat and that this year he expects an abundance of about 4 thousand pounds [4,000 kg] per hectare.

But the price being offered by the millers, according to him, is extremely low.

He links this situation to the import of Serbia's “grurt, which, according to him, negatively affects the domestic market and the value of producing Kosovo farmers.

Each year, when June comes, these millers go and clean up their ukmours in Serbia and bring them to Kosovo. The first five years of Serbia's reserves comes to Kosovo and is eaten by Albanians. The corn harvested this year (in Kosovo), no one gets it... or say 17 cents, 16 cents, as if they'd like”, the revolted Mazreku said.

The data from Kosovo Customs confirms that Serbia is one of the main sites from wheat imported to Kosovo.

This year's January-May period imported wheat worth about 7.9m euros.

Most of the more than 7.2m euros was imported from Serbia, while others from Hungary and Croatia.

Free Radio Europe asked Kosovo's Food and Veterinary Agency for the year of wheat production imported this year, but until the publication of this article, no response was received.

Mazreku said that millers have also increased their price from 18 percent to 24 percent this year.

We are the amount of grain that the miller holds for himself in compensation for grinding.

This means that for every 1,000 pounds [1,000 kg] of wheat the farmer brings for grinding, the miller picks up 150 pounds [240 kg].

That's where they hit it. We don't have anywhere to leave the reserve”, Mazreku said.

So did Sali Ilazi, a farmer from the Ferizaj municipality.

It contains 127 hectares of wheat, which it values as high quality.

The X-rays paid us 20 cents. Now it's 18 cents. With this wheat price, we can't cover. The real price should be 22 to 23 cents. But why take our wheat when they can get it from Serbia... And he's in the last hand of”, according to Ilazi.

His co-placer, Aziz Halili, who has planted about six hectares of wheat, also expressed dissatisfaction with the price offered by the millers.

He considers it unfair, especially in connection with the increase in the price of bread.

The millers and bakers' associates win, and our product, which is the main one, is violated”, according to Halil.

Ferat Jaka from Podujevo was also in protest.

He said that in his municipality, millers don't even accept buying wheat.

They don't get it. They have found alternatives, brought from Serbia. Customs has little for wheat and these agricultural products. We're being violated”, he said.

How is the price set?

Kosovo does not have a scholarship for wheat prices, so the millers are based on regional prices, say the Kosovo Mllies Association.

The leader of this association, the Union Zejnullahu, tells Radio Free Europe that in the necessary cases, millers from Kosovo import wheat from Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Currently, the price of one tonne of wheat in the region is lower than in Kosovo.

“in the region, at the moment, behaves from 150 to 170 euros per tonneta”, Zejnullah says.

That means the price for a kilo is 15 to 17 cents.

Zejnullahu shows that in Kosovo, currently, wheat harvesting has started only in parts of Suhareka, Prizren and Rahovec, while in other parts, harvests are expected to start from next week.

He says Kosovo millers, who gather wheat, have just begun this process, but at different prices.

There are no same prices. It all depends on the quality of wheat. From 170 (euro) to 190 (euro) for a ton of”, Zejnullah says.

He explains that the price of wheat is largely determined by quality, which is closely linked to its purity.

According to Zeinsu, it is often the wheat that Kosovo farmers bring that is not clean.

And we have many nationals, which are old and throw a lot of garbage into the wheat. The waste should not be more than two or three percent, but in most cases there are five to 10 percent”, says Zeynullah, adding that this directly affects the gain of a kilo.

Radio Free Europe addressed the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development to be informed of the possibility of addressing Kosovo farmers' concerns about the price of wheat and defence policies for local production, but until the publication of this article, there was no response.

The ministry did not answer questions about the wheat-planted area in Kosovo, expectations for productivity, total wheat needs, and on what size they are met by local producers.

From previous reports, Kosovo needs about 400,000 tonnes of wheat per year, but local production covers a little more than 60 percent of that amount.

In 2022, the quality of wheat produced in Kosovo was below standard, while the import supply was jeopardised because of Serbia's temporary export ban on Serbia a move that followed the global market crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Gru, as the first subject for flour production, is considered a strategic product for Kosovo's national security./Periscopi/