When talking about trade between Serbia and Kosovo, customs duties, political crises, or deadlocks in the dialogue are most frequently mentioned. Much less is often said about what those political decisions look like from the perspective of companies trying to export goods or pay suppliers. For this very reason, as part of the research The Clear Trade Nexus We have mapped 50 barriers affecting cross-border trade. We have divided them into three groups: economic, political-administrative, and cultural, and we have identified the largest number of barriers precisely in political-administrative category.
That does not mean that trade is impossible. Goods cross the administrative line every day, but the way trade takes place often depends on procedures, regulatory decisions, and political circumstances that business people cannot foresee nor influence.
Our analysis shows that political and administrative obstacles rarely come alone. Different customs procedures, multiple controls, inconsistent documentation, varying interpretations of regulations, and insufficient digitization of institutions most often act together. The result is slower movement of goods, higher costs, and more uncertain business operations.
In recent years, there have been several examples showing how much political decisions can affect trade flows. When 100 percent tariffs on goods from Serbia were introduced in 2018, trade Done and ready. Business people warned of supply interruptions, shortages of certain products, and price increases, while companies on both sides were left without markets they had relied on for years. Not only exports were affected. The consequences were very quickly felt by traders, suppliers, and consumers alike.
Similar problems occurred later. During 2023, additional restrictions were introduced on the entry of goods from Serbia, and after the partial opening of the Merdare crossing, goods were allowed to enter with enhanced controls. In practice, this meant longer waiting times, slower procedures, and additional transport costs. We identified precisely these kinds of situations in our research through obstacles such as long waits at administrative crossings, multiple controls, temporary trade restrictions, and delays in the implementation of agreements.
Political influence is not limited only to the trade of goods. During this year, the issue of international trade in electricity was also opened. Kosovo's Minister of Economy Artane Rizvanoli declared that Serbia is hindering international electricity trade, while the Energy Community has been pointing out for years the importance of regional integration of the energy market. This shows that regulatory disputes can also have consequences in areas that go beyond classical commodity trade. It is precisely at that level that politics most often turns into administration.
The biggest problem is often not individual bans or major political decisions, but everyday administration. A company that has to collect additional documentation, wait for various approvals, or go through multiple inspections for the same goods operates slower and more expensively than the competition. For large enterprises, this is an additional cost. For small and medium-sized enterprises, it is sometimes the reason not to try entering another market at all.
Although political relations between Belgrade and Pristina are often viewed through the prism of major issues, the experiences of the business community show that everyday administrative problems are equally important. When goods wait longer at a crossing, when the same documentation is checked multiple times, or when companies are unsure how a specific regulation will be applied, the consequences ultimately manifest as higher operating costs and fewer opportunities for developing new business relationships.
Major political agreements are important, but business experience shows that much smaller steps are often just as important: predictable procedures, consistent enforcement of regulations, better institutional coordination, and more transparent administration. It is precisely at this level that a large portion of the obstacles we identified in this research are found.
Author: Milena Marić
Sources: TV N1, Blic and RTS