Sekulic: How come raw materials from Serbia are not a threat to Kosovo's security, but "Honey Heart" is?

Sasa Sekulic, President of the Association of Serbian Entrepreneurs from Gracanica, says that due to Pristina's ban on importing goods from Serbia, which has been in effect for nine months, the citizens of Kosovo have received lower-quality products at significantly higher prices, by 20 to 30 percent, and that small entrepreneurs, especially Albanian ones who represented major brands coming from central Serbia, are suffering damages.

Sekulic finds the explanation provided by Kosovo officials nine months ago for the ban on Serbian goods because of security reasons, absurd, especially considering that the ban was quickly lifted for raw materials imported from Serbia while it remained in place for finished products.

"They justified this decision on security grounds. Then the logical question is: how does Kosovo still import raw materials for further production, and those raw materials are not a security threat, while finished products like 'Jafa', 'Honey Heart', or 'Rosa' are? That statement was illogical," Sekulic says.

He states that Pristina's decision was political and that many Albanian analysts do not agree with it.

"Even the American Chamber of Commerce appealed a few months ago for the government's decision to be reconsidered, and we also have the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo's recent appeal for the decision to ban Serbian products to be lifted," Sekulic points out.

Regarding who suffers the consequences of this measure, Sekulic says that citizens are primarily affected because they pay higher prices for products, while the official statistics of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo show that the Kosovo economy is not suffering any consequences.

"Small entrepreneurs are certainly affected, especially Albanian ones who represented major brands coming from central Serbia, they have suffered significant losses," Sekulic says.