BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2023) The economy of central Serbia has suffered a loss of over 40 million Euros ($44 million) since mid-June due to Kosovo's ban on the import of Serbian-made goods, and continues to lose about 1 million euros a day, Kosovar media reported.
In mid-June, authorities in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, which Serbia does not recognize, banned all trucks with Serbian license plates and goods from entering Kosovo territory from central Serbia. On July 8, Kosovo eased the restrictions, allowing the entry of artificial fertilizers, animal feed, raw materials and semi-finished goods, machinery and equipment, and production facilities.
"The Serbian economy has so far suffered losses of over 40 million euros due to the blockade. Kosovo is also suffering losses, but less ... Goods worth about 370 million euros are imported from central Serbia to Kosovo every year, but now they are being replaced on the market by goods from Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania, which are more expensive than Serbian ones," the president of the Alliance of Kosovo Businesses, Agim Shahini, told the Kosovo Online news portal.
The daily financial losses of the Serbian economy due to Pristina's ban, taking into account the collateral damage, amount to about one million euros, he added.
The head of the Centre for Regional Cooperation at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Aleksandar Radovanovic, said that before the blockade, goods worth 1.3 million euros were being delivered daily from central Serbia to Kosovo and Metohija, two-thirds of which were various raw materials for further processing.
In late May, clashes erupted in the north of Kosovo after the police forcibly installed new ethnic Albanian mayors in office in several northern cities following municipal elections in April. The polls were boycotted by the Serb community but declared valid despite a less than 3.5% voter turnout. More than 50 Serbian protesters and at least 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were injured in the clashes.
