December 10 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's exports to Kosovo have thinned to a trickle in the first nine months of 2019 following introduction of 100% import tariffs by Pristina, Bosnian media reported on Tuesday.
Kosovo's imports from Bosnia plummeted 97% on the year to 3.2 million marka ($1.8 million/1.6 million euro) in January-September of 2019 as a result of Kosovo's increased import tariffs on all goods produced in Serbia and Bosnia, the news agency of Bosnia's Serb Republic entity, SRNA, reported.
On the other hand, Bosnia's imports from Kosovo decreased by 25.6% year-on-year to 10.7 million marka in January-September.
Kosovo's prohibitively high tariffs on imports from Bosnia have damaged the business of Bosnian companies, especially those from the metal, electrical, food and pharmaceutical industries, and have also caused other negative effects of the trade flow in the Western Balkans", SRNA quoted a Bosnian foreign trade ministry official as saying.
On November 21, 2018, Kosovo's government decided to increase the import tariffs on all goods produced in Serbia and Bosnia to 100% from 10% set earlier that month, saying the move aimed to protect Kosovo's sovereignty and interests. The scope of the tariffs was expanded on December 29 to include products manufactured under international brands in Serbia and Bosnia.
Kosovo, considered to be a potential candidate for EU membership by the European Commission, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has so far been recognised by more than half of the 193 UN member states. Serbia and Bosnia both do not recognise the independence of Kosovo.
(1 euro = 195583 marka)