From April 1, tenants of premises in the Palace of Youth will face new prices. Up to 24 euros per square meter will be the new price for premises on the first line of this building, say the Local Public Enterprise "Palace of Youth". Businesses say this will further increase their financial burden.
Starting from 11 euros to over 24 euros per square meter, will be the new prices included in the new regulation for local businesses in the Youth Palace, which is divided into four zones. In zone A the price will be 24.65 euros, in zone B the price will be 18.92 euros, in zone C the price will be 16.23 euros and in zone D the price will be 11.87 euros. These tariffs will come into effect from April 1.
Over 60 businesses operating in the Youth Palace, some of them will be significantly affected, jeopardizing their operation. Gastronomy is the most affected by this regulation.
Bedri Statovci from the “Piano” pastry shop, located in Zone A of the Youth Center, has been a part of this space for 37 years. He says that the tenants of the Youth Center have contributed to the facilities of this center. Statovci says that the rent with the new regulation exceeds 5 thousand euros, which cannot be covered.
"If this happens, we have no choice but to close the premises, but someone has to pay us back for the investments. No investment has been made there for years, except by us, the owners. Where they have designated the area, I don't know. I told them that I don't accept the regulation, I'll hand over the keys, return my investments of over 150 thousand euros, I'll withdraw immediately, but without returning the investments I won't accept it. People have invested a lot there, so throwing them out now after 30 years is not easy," says Statovci.
One of the owners of a small business in Zone B of the Youth Palace says that with the new regulation he will pay over 70 euros more in rent. He says he will accept this rent, despite the damages caused to him.
"I will pay about 72 euros more. It hurts us a lot. The annual fee will be somewhere around 1 thousand euros, there is not much work, it is not in our hands, they have thrown us before the act is done, accept it and let it go, and at my age, where am I going?" he says.
But, the acting CEO of the Public Enterprise "Pallati i Rinisë", Shpend Bilalli, speaking to Radio Kosova, says that so far there has been no accurate measurement of the square meter in all the premises of this center, which has caused the enterprise a loss of over 40 thousand euros.
"From this process, there have been very large discrepancies both in the price part, as well as in the square meter part. We have a contract with a tenant who has over 500 square meters, but when the measurement was done, it came out to be over 1 thousand square meters, and all this has caused damage to the building of over 40 thousand euros. The area opposite 'New Born' had a very low price, according to the assessment that was made, they will have a different price," Bilalli declares.
The new regulation, according to Bilal, will not affect all the premises of the Youth Palace. However, he emphasizes that the changes aim at better management of the spaces and the creation of more favorable conditions for the development of various sports, cultural activities and investments, as well as new projects./RTK
