FIRST STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO ABOLISH PRISTINA'S TAXES ON BiH PRODUCTS

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina has today organized a meeting of delegations from BiH and Kosovo* discussing the decision of Pristina authorities to levy 100 percent taxes on goods coming from BiH. The two sides agreed that today's discussion opens the door to further dialogue and in the shortest possible time, competent institutions should find the best solutions to existing obstacles to the movement of people, goods and services.

Insisting to tackle this problem as a matter of urgency in order to prevent further damage to domestic businessmen, BiH delegation requested temporarily abolishment of the taxes while at the same, based on the model of other countries that have not recognized the independence of Kosovo*, seeking a solution for the free movement of people and regulation of the visa regime.

The delegation from Pristina will inform the competent authorities on BiH's initiative, stressing the need to create conditions as soon as possible to resolve issues of document recognition and visa liberalization between BiH and Kosovo*.

Beside the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Kosovo, representatives of CEFTA were also present at the meeting. The representative of the Ministry of Financeof Albania, currently holding the presidency of CEFTA, Majlinda Hafizi, emphasized the importance of complying with CEFTA agreement in the context of further integration processes, and expressed confidence that in this case, in the most recent time, an adequate solution would be found in the interest of both parties.