Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić has invited the authorities in Pristina to withdraw the fee for Serbian flour or Serbia will be forced to undertake countermeasures.

Pristina has introduced a fee for flour from Serbia of € 40 per ton, and Mr Ljajić says that a complaint was filed to the Kosovo’s authorities, CEFTA and to Brussels.

“We are avoiding countermeasures, since it brings to nowhere, but if you have no other way, you have to undertake them”, says Mr Ljajić to the RTS, adding that the fee for flour from Serbia is one of the topics of the regional meeting to be held tomorrow in Budva.

“No country with less than 10 million citizens, if the participation of the export in the GDB is not at least 50 per cent, has no chances for economic development. All countries thinking to bottle-up and in this way protect their own entrepreneurs are shooting their own legs”, underlined Minister.

He explains that they have already had a meeting with the owners of the largest mills in Kosovo working with the mills in Vojvodina and Serbia Association “Wheat of Serbia”, compared the prices and that there the Pristina’s claim that with lower prices we are trying to take over the market is not valid.

“The price of flour is from 197 to 205 euros. We have informed them about our countermeasures if this decision remains. We cannot wait for them for two or three months to buy our wheat, grind it into flour, sell that flour and then decide to withdraw the measure”, underlined Mr Ljajić.

He adds that Serbia will not give up on the elimination of all out-of-customs barriers with the countries in the region, that a model is being developed with Bosnia and Herzegovina to identify all out-of-customs barriers and that it will be presented to all CEFTA Member States.