Owner of café “Vuk”: The venue was closed because it is Serbian

Nemanja Nedeljkovic, owner of the café “Vuk” located on the promenade in North Mitrovica, which was closed this morning, told Kosovo Online that the venue was shut down solely because it is Serbian, emphasizing that everything happening to business owners in the north is politically motivated.

“The fine was written in Albanian, without any translation or explanation in Serbian, so even I am not certain why it was issued this time,” Nedeljkovic said.

He stated that the inspection cited as the reason for closing the venue the fact that sugar packets did not have a declaration.

“To my knowledge, sugar does not have an expiration date at all. I believe that, following the actions against Serbian institutions, this is also an attack on Serbian business owners in the north of Kosovo. Inspectors were also at my premises on Monday and issued a fine for smoking inside the venue, which is understandable, but I showed them the documents I possess and that day everything was in order. Today, however, they closed the café without any grounds,” Nedeljkovic stressed.

He explained that the venue has all the necessary documentation, that taxes have been paid, employees hold valid sanitary booklets and are properly registered, and that he sees no reason for the closure other than, as he says, the fact that the café is Serbian-owned.

“I also believe that at the lower end of the promenade there are Kosovo-owned cafés that have never once been inspected. Moreover, anyone who takes a walk can see that smoking takes place inside,” the owner added.

He pointed out that the production date is clearly stamped on the large sugar packaging, but that sugar does not have an expiration date.

“I think they should educate their inspectors before sending them out on inspections. They always come accompanied by the Kosovo police,” Nedeljkovic said.

He also recalled that in August Kosovo inspectors ordered him to remove the outdoor terrace located on the promenade, for which he had been paying rent to the Municipality of North Mitrovica.

“During the Mitrovica Days festival, they demolished my terrace. Even then the question was what else I should expect. I said that next time I expected them to close my café. And that is what happened. Now I expect that one day they will come and arrest me,” concluded the owner of the closed hospitality establishment.

Nedeljkovic plans to address the Municipality of North Mitrovica in order to have the venue reopened as soon as possible. He also adds that over the past year he has paid fines totaling €14,000 for his two cafés, most of which were issued by the sanitary inspection.