COVID-19, financial measures taken in Kosovo and North Macedonia

The measures taken in Kosovo and North Macedonia to support businesses are based on the needs and policies of each country.

In a live interview for Euronews Albania, the President of the Kosovo Business Alliance, Agim Shahini, said that the government proposed an emergency package of €177 mln, in which they select only some of the businesses that will benefit financial support.

“Both Kosovo and Albania are discriminating businesses. They are not covering all of them, in a time when 90% of businesses are not operating because of the pandemic. The ones that are still operating are meeting huge difficulties, putting into question their entire liquidity. We asked the government and opposition parties to hold an extraordinary session and create an emergency law that can offer support to every business”, Shahini said.

Economic analyst Visar Ademi said that North Macedonia has not selected which businesses will receive support, but has given instructions to prioritize the sectors that were hit hardest by the crisis. The main criteria on which they are based was supporting businesses that have their monthly turnover reduced by at least 30%.

“The government in North Macedonia is helping with 2-5% of the €3 budget, by injecting around €150 mln to the economy, mainly supporting small companies”, says Ademi.

“The financial package has instructions to prioritize workers, so that companies aren’t forced to let them go. Companies that are suffering more than 30% drop of the monthly turnover will benefit one minimum pay for their employees, which will mount to a total of 235 EUR. This pay will be applied by the end of April”, he adds.

The President of the Kosovo Business Alliance brought several proposals which they think should be taken in consideration by the government.

“We asked the government to come up with an emergency package of 500 million EUR. They should also review the budget and the change the list of businesses that are not allowed to work. More than 100.000 workers of the health sector should receive a minimal pay of 170 EUR. This is not right, since employees of the health sector receive a full 100% pay, different from private companies”, said Agim Shahini.