Serbian companies exported goods worth €95mn in Kosovo in the first six months of the year as they regained 58% of the market share lost following the introduction of 100% tariffs by the Kosovan authorities in November 2018, local media reported citing information from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

Serbia, which was Kosovo's biggest trade partner, suffered millions of euros of losses due to the politically motivated tariffs in the last two years.

The taxes were imposed by former Kosovan PM Ramush Haradinaj. Then the government led by PM Albin Kurti abolished the taxes on all goods in March 2020, but replaced them with reciprocity measures on May 30 in an effort to pressure Belgrade to recognise Kosovo as a state. After the collapse of Kurti's government the current cabinet of PM Avdullah Hoti decided on June 6 to completely abolish the measure of reciprocity.

Despite the lifting of the tariffs, in June this year, firms from Serbia sold goods with only just above half the value of those sold in the same month two years before the taxes.

"During June, the export of goods to Kosovo was worth €23.4mn, compared to €40.3mn in June 2018 before the taxes,” info-ks.net reported citing the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

Businesspeople from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce estimated that the percentage of the regained market and the value of shipped goods would have been higher had it not been for the crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and if there had been no reciprocity measures in trade in the period from May 30 to June 6, when exports of goods to Kosovo were completely suspended.

In the first six months of the year, goods worth €8.2mn were delivered to Serbia from Kosovo.

Since April this year, 852 Serbian companies and entrepreneurs have placed goods on the Kosovan market, of which 245 are micro and small enterprises, according to the article.

In 2018, when taxes of 100% began to be applied on November 21, 1,424 companies from Serbia sold goods in Kosovo, while the number dropped to 296 during 2019.