The decision of the Government of Albania to set the tariff for turnover on the "Nation's Road" motorway has generated numerous reactions to Kosovar businesses.
On this issue, Minister of Infrastructure in the Government of Kosovo, Pal Lekaj, has sent an official letter to his counterpart, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy in the Government of Albania, Demian Gjiknuri. Infrastructure Minister Pal Lekaj told Radio Free Europe that he is awaiting a response from his Albanian counterpart to discuss once again about the price of the tariff, as according to him, the price is very high and presents a barrier to businesses and citizens.
"The tax is high and we have had a lot of complaints from citizens who informed us that this fee could be an obstacle to frequent visit to Albania.""Therefore, starting from this fact and from the many businesses complaints, we want to hold a meeting with Minister Gjiknuri, to talk and see if it is possible to discuss this tariff and get lowered,"says Lekaj.
According to the decision which is expected to come into force in April this year, all those who travel to the "Nation's Road" in the part of Albania, which is 114 kilometers long, for a two-way ride will pay the fee, which starts from 5 euros for engines, 10 euros for cars, up to 45 euros for heavy duty trucks. The highway linking Albania to Kosovo is constructed in 2009. Meanwhile, Kosovo completed the construction of the highway in 2013. According to official figures only in 2017 on the border with Albania were registered over 2 million entrances and exits of vehicles, trucks and buses . In sign of dissatisfaction against this decision, several private companies from Kosovo importing products from Albania have protested at the border crossing point in Vermice. Besim Gashi, general director of the company "Besimi Comerce" from Shtimja, shows that only in one day about 80 heavy vehicles subcontracted by his company are circulating in the "Nation's Road" and the road fee of 45 euros in both directions can cost to hum about 1 milion of euros.,
"We are not against the tax, but because of the price of 45 euros, it is not normal, so because of this anomaly we will boycotted Albanian products and imports from Albania starting from today.
"Compared with the countries of the region is four times more expensive."says Gashi.
Even leaders of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce have said that road taxes will hurt trade exchanges. The executive director at this Chamber, Ismet Mulaj, told to Radio Free Europe that this business tax would cost over 2 million euros a year, including the impact on tourism and other sectors.
"The biggest problems will be for the producers of Albania. Because this tax will increase the cost of Kosovar business and Kosovar businesses will look for opportunities to find other countries for import," Mulaj says. The official data show that the value of imports of products that are imported from Albania per year exceeds 99 million, while the value of Kosovo products exported to Albania is only 15 million euros. Otherwise, apart from the road tariff that the state of Albania has established, the state of Kosovo will impose such a fee for the part of the Kosovo highway, says Minister Pal Lekaj, indicating that this ministry is in a feasibility procedure but that the tariff according to him will be symbolic and conform to the economic conditions of the citizens of Kosovo..