Serbia “conquers” the Kosovo market with goods again, surpassing Albania

Only Serbia is seeing the effect of this change. Within the first 5 months of this year, goods worth approximately 132 million euros were imported from Serbia to Kosovo alone.

Last year, 261 million kilograms of products, worth over 300 million euros, entered Kosovo from Serbia. “If we compare last year with the current year, in the first five months we see that we have imported 261 million kilograms of products from Serbia. While this year there is less, about 8 million kilograms of goods. The quantity of products has decreased, but the value has increased, due to the increase in the prices of the products”, said the Kosovo Customs.

In addition to the import, which is very large, Kosovo’s export to Serbia has also recorded a small increase. “Within five months, goods worth approximately 25 million euros were exported. Kosovo has also recorded a positive figure in the export of goods in relation to other countries”.

So far, about 354 million euros worth of goods have been exported. While by the end of the year, according to the Kosovo Customs, the export value is expected to reach the value of 900 million euros.

Serbia replaces Albania

The former prime minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, currently a deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo, has criticized the Kurti Government, because according to them, they used to turn the trucks that imported goods from Serbia and in 2021, Serbia will return to the first place with goods in Kosovo , with an increase of 76%.

In a post on Facebook, Hoti writes: “In 2020, Albania was the first country in the region from which Kosovo imported goods, North Macedonia was the second, while Serbia was the third. In 2021, the trend changes. Serbia returns to first place, with an increase of 76%. Once upon a time, some drove trucks importing goods from Serbia. Once upon a time, some promised reciprocity”, writes Hoti.

Albin Kurti, after being appointed prime minister for the first time, decided to remove the 100% tax imposed by Ramush Haradinaj on Serbian products. This after great international pressure. But, a few days before he became prime minister for the second time, in an interview together with President Vjosa Osmani, he had promised that he would decide the measure of reciprocity for Serbia.

As Kurti said in 2021, establishing the measure of reciprocity will be a matter of days and weeks, but never months. However, more than a year has passed since that time and Kosovo has not established reciprocity towards Serbia.

As a result, the import from Serbia from 2019, when Kosovo imposed the tax, until 2021, has increased significantly, exceeding 300 million euros. The Kurti Government’s spokesperson, Pëparim Kryeziu, also reacted to this fact a few days ago, who tried to give suggestions on which period should be compared with which.

“One week they compare imports from Serbia with 2020, when there were significant restrictions, so that due to the pandemic, even the borders were closed. And when they don’t think it’s enough, they compare it to 2019, when the 100% tariff was imposed. That year, at least officially, the import decreased, but the shelves of markets continued to be filled with Serbian goods, since what was previously imported officially, had begun to enter as contraband.

But, the assessee does not see them making comparisons with the years 2017 or 2018, normal years of commercial exchanges. Because then they would be forced to talk about a real decrease in imports from Serbia by about 32%, respectively 20% – even after the overall increase in imports, the increase in inspections and customs collection, as well as the closing of illegal routes that were used for smuggling, especially in the North of the country. In 2017, Serbia was in the first place from which we imported, while in 2021 and this year, it occupies the fourth place”, wrote Kryeziu in his official profile.

At the end of his response, Kryeziu says that there is no mention of the fact of the increase in commercial exchange with Albania.

“At the same time, they rarely talk about the continuous growth of trade exchanges, especially with friendly countries such as Germany, Turkey, and Albania. Even less, for the continuous growth of trade exchange with Albania. In Albania and from Albania, today we export and import more than ever before”, says Kryeziu at the end of the reaction.

However, even Prime Minister Albin Kurti, when talking about economic growth, made a comparison with 2020, when there was the Covid 19 pandemic.

“A notable achievement this year is the practically double-digit economic growth that has resulted in a bonus of 800 million euros in our economy. Revenues have increased, government expenditures have decreased, budget revenues have increased and government expenditures have decreased. Budget revenues have increased by 30%, exports compared to 2020 by 90% and even 90% compared to 2019. Foreign Direct Investments have increased compared to last year by 53%, and 80% compared to 2019. it belongs to the first months of the year, or the first quarters as measured. It is interesting how in the second quarter we had an economic growth of 16.3% while in the third quarter 14.3%”, said Kurti.

In one month, Kosovo imported about 500 million euros of goods

Even the statistics of the Statistics Agency show that Kosovo continues to be dependent on the import of goods, when in March of this year, many goods from foreign countries entered our country.

It does not take much analysis to show that Serbia continues to be first in this list.

“… imports from CEFTA countries in March 2022 reached 93.2 million euros, or 18.9% of total imports, with an increase of 30.7%. The countries with the highest participation for import were: Serbia (6.5%), Albania (5.8%), North Macedonia (5.3%)”, says the KAS report.

Meanwhile, Kosovo’s imports from EU countries (27) were around 205.4 million euros, or 41.6% of total imports, with an increase of 11.1%.

“Imports with the highest participation were from: Germany (10.6%), Greece (4.8%), Italy (4.5%), etc.,” says the report of the Kosovo Statistics Agency regarding export and import flows for the month March 2022. Meanwhile, Kosovo’s imports with other countries of the world reached 195.2 million euros, or 39.5%. The countries with the highest share of imports in this group were Turkey (13.8%) and China (10.5%).

The data from the foreign trade of goods in Kosovo show a higher trade deficit of 26.4% in March 2022, in relation to the same period of 2021, namely in the value of 405.3 million euros, compared to the deficit of 320.7 million euros in the year 2021.

Export covers import by 17.9%

In the Kosovo market, during this year, a smaller amount of products was imported, compared to the same period of 2021, but the imports were paid more expensively. Customs data for the period from January to May 20, show that Kosovo has imported 1.6 billion kilograms of various products, with a financial value of about 2 billion euros. During the same period last year, 1.9 kg of products were imported, which cost over 1.5 billion euros.

In other words, the quantity of imported goods decreased by 11%, while their financial value increased by 21%. The Minister of Finance and Transfers of Kosovo, Hekuran Murati, said in a Government meeting, days ago, that the increase in the financial value of imports – which means an increase in revenues at the State Customs – is the result of economic growth in Kosovo and the decline of the informal economy.

Last week, for two consecutive days in Amsterdam, the world’s largest private label fair was held. More than 3,500 manufacturing companies participated in this fair.

There were 13 companies from Kosovo, from the region only Serbia had more. Meanwhile, the Producers’ Club of Kosovo was a participant with 7 companies. The Executive Director of the Producers’ Club of Kosovo, Astrit Panxha, says that these developments show that producers are ready for export, and the economy of Kosovo is gradually consolidating in the region as a player serious.

“This fact was proven by the interest expressed in our products, each company had an average of 50 meetings with potential buyers. According to the Mckinsey Company, to generate a ‘business lead’, companies need to spend an average of around $2,000. Do the math to understand the importance of attending this fair! And the results were not lacking, two contracts signed at the fair and many others are in the process of negotiation”, wrote Panxha.

He said that last year, Kosovo’s exports reached 740 million euros, while this year, based on the existing trend, it is expected that exports will exceed 1 billion euros.

“The true face of Kosovo’s economy is coming to the surface, and the beauty lies in the fact that finally, a systematic shift is taking place and the path is being laid for sustainable economic development based on the creation and not the consumption of values”.

Revenues in Kosovo Customs fill the state coffers, the same as revenues in the Tax Administration of Kosovo. The latter also announced that from January 1 to May 20, 2021, it collected about 229 thousand euros, while in the same period of this year, the value reached over 303 thousand euros.

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