Regulation provides loophole for fuel smugglers in Kosovo

03/10/2008

A Serbian regulation allowing duty-free export of goods -- including fuel -- to Kosovo for Kosovo Serbs has become a loophole for smugglers.

By Besa Beqiri for Southeast European Times in Pristina – 03/10/08

Smuggled gas sells for 30 to 40 euro cents a litre less. [File]

Police are aware of gasoline smuggling in northern Kosovo, says Kosovo Police Service (KPS) spokesman Besim Hoti. Serb and Albanian crime rings have been co-operating in developing this racket, which is very profitable throughout the whole country, not just in the Kosovo Serb-dominated parts.

"There are a number of problems. ... The two custom checkpoints in Leposavic, Gate 1, and in Zubin Potok, Gate 31, do not function. Fuel is brought from Serbia to Kosovo based on a Serb regulation that allows goods, including fuel, to be brought to Kosovo for the Kosovo Serbs, duty-free," Hoti said.

Police say smugglers exploit the regulation to deliver gasoline, which they sell for 30 to 40 euro cents per litre below Kosovo and Serbia's regular price. "Fuel can be bought in northern Mitrovica, where Serbs have opened some new pumps," Hoti said. Bargain-seeking Albanians have been filling up there too. "It's cheaper; that's all," an anonymous taxi driver told Southeast European Times.

Police officers in the Mitrovica region say their only available strategy for stopping smugglers is to charge them either for irregular transport of goods or smuggling if the drivers are not able to provide documentation of the goods' origin. In the latter case, they send the drivers and trucks to customs checkpoints, where customs officials draw up charges of smuggling.

However, that option is not easy to implement. The customs checkpoints in Leposavic and Zubin Potok suffered outright destruction or heavy damage by Serb mobs only a few days after Pristina proclaimed independence in February.

KPS official Veton Elshani acknowledges police do not know for certain the level of smuggling in the north. All the KPS can do, he said, is to try to block it in the southern part of Mitrovica.

Police began to establish logistics for dealing with smugglers immediately after the independence declaration on February 17th. Fixing security cameras at the checkpoints is one of the highest priorities. "The cameras are about the overall police work, including smuggling," Elshani said, noting the process of repairing them on the northern border will continue.

A UN official told the Financial Times recently that "the only way to put staff back at the gates is by force, and it won't be sustainable unless Serbs agree."

EULEX Commander Yves de Kermabon told the paper Serbia would profit from "a very clear legal framework" for border control. "I want to be more pragmatic than political," he said.