Trading with the enemy in Mitrovica, Kosovo. - RUhosting

the highest aid per capita ever given to a country. There are results of this, but for many people these are
disappointing. The infrastructure has not completely recovered yet, and while most roads are reconstructed
water and electricity supplies remain a problem. Daily water and power cuts are no exception, with their
length and occurrence depending on both the area and season. For example, in my experience Mitrovica was
more prone to water shortages but less to power cuts compared to Pristina and in the summer a general lack
of water happened more often (field notes). Especially the unreliability of energy is a major drag on
investment in and growth of the economy (UN, 2008).
For most locals though, the economy itself is the most important issue and they expected more progress in
rebuilding this. People from both communities (Albanians and Serbs) consider the economy one of the
biggest problems they face (CARE, 2006), and the lack of progress in rebuilding the economy may be one of
the biggest reasons for the growing resentment among Albanians against the IC presence.
4.2.5. The Economy
Kosovo's currency is the Euro, which was officially adopted on the first of January 2002 as the local
currency, the same day Euro coins and banknotes went into circulation in the rest of Europe. Nor the people,
nor the government of Kosovo really had any choice in this: they had been using Deutsch marks since before
the war instead of Serbian Dinars as their main currency and so by 2002 had to adopt the EURO (field
notes). The Serbian dinar is still used in Serbian-majority areas of Kosovo such as Mitrovica north. This
illustrates the division of Mitrovica very well: Mitrovica south the Euro is the official currency while in
Mitrovica north this is the Serbian dinar.
In 2008 Kosovo's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 3.804 billion Euro and it's GDP growth rate 5.4%, this
growth is attributed for a large part to the private sector. Kosovo's interest rate has been stable around 1 or 2
percent the past 6 years, but this year for the first time increased strongly: to 7.2% (ECIKS, 2009). Kosovo is
still an import based economy, with its import being over 10 times as high as its export. Kosovo imported for
over 1.6 billion Euro over 2007, while its exports were 146.6 million the same year. Both import and export
has been increasing steadily the past years though, with most trade taking place with CEFTA-members and
EU-countries. Its main imports are mineral products, prepared foodstuffs and machinery while its main
exports are base metals by far, followed by minerals (ECIKS, 2008).
Not only the imports and exports are growing every year, also the GDP has been growing steadily every year.
What has stayed the same the past 5 years though is the unemployment rate, which is still around 40%
(ECIKS, 2008). It must be considered that there's a substantial black and grey economy in Kosovo so these
numbers are not entirely representative. Every year around 30,000 young people enter the labour market
(UN, 2008), this rapid growth of the population might be one of the explanations for why the economy is
improving but unemployment rates remain equal. The people who do have a job earned on average 236
40