The chrome factory in Gjakovë continues to remain closed, due to the increase in mining rent from Albania

The chrome enrichment plant in Devë has been closed for two and a half years now. In addition to the lack of raw material and the low market price of chrome concentrate, the mining rent raised to 9 percent by the Ministry of Finance in Albania has made this factory no longer process even a single gram of chrome.

This factory in Gjakovë, which is located only 15 kilometers near the border point in Qafë Prush, has historically been supplied with raw materials, 100 percent imported from Albania, in the areas of Has and Tropoja.

In order to put this plant into operation, its managers and other solid mineral businessmen from Albania demand that this royalty applied by the Albanian authorities be completely removed, as the executive there has decided for chrome processors in Albania.

The executive of Albania at the beginning of 2021, has changed the law on national taxes and thus has suspended the mineral rent, for three years zero only for further processors of chrome ore, in ferrochrome plants and chrome enrichment factories.

According to the government, this initiative had come to help the mining industry there which has been affected by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Until now, the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Albania and the customs of this country have not responded to KosovaPress regarding the demands of the chrome factory in Gjakovë.

The owner and general administrator of the chrome enrichment factory in Gjakovë, Bukurosh Koçi, emphasizes that the import of raw material from Albania presents difficulties for his work in Kosovo.

Koçi says that the export royalty tax that the Albanian state applies to purchases made from its factory are very high. He adds that the rent is 9 percent on the reference price and not on the purchase price, which burdens the importer, in this case the chromium enrichment plant in Devë, directly.

"In 2022, in January, we got ready to start work, but due to the lack of raw materials, we could not start. And the other reason is, because the Albanian government has set a rent for the poor mineral 9 percent of the value of the mineral, this is not 9 percent of the invoice or the value that we buy, but it is more, because it is based on a reference price which establishes a commission appointed by the Ministry of Finance. Today in Qafë Prush there are over 20-30 thousand tons of chrome that we cannot import, because the rent is a very large value, and therefore we cannot take it, because it results in a loss. So if this rent will be lower as it is in Albania, which has been zero for three years, we would be ready to start buying and putting the factory into operation. This belongs to the part of Albania", emphasizes Koçi.

The investor from Albania in Gjakovë is asking the Government of Albania to completely remove the mining rent as for the chrome enrichment factories operating in Albania.

Koçi further said that the commissioning of this factory would put into operation about 20 mines in the area of ​​Has, Tropoja and Kukës.

"I think it would be good to have zero rent, just like in Albania for three years it has been zero. And this is a great help, because it immediately put all the factories in efficiency, or a large part of these factories at work", he says.

He has shown that the rent is paid only once for the purchase of the raw material, but if the mine or mining source place where the mineral is obtained, the raw material would have been obtained in the territory of Kosovo, it would be paid in export referring to the raw material used for the production of one ton of concentrate according to the laws in Kosovo.

According to him, the rent is paid only once, in the case of the factory in Devë when it imports from abroad, in the case of Albania, the rent is paid by the seller, that is, the Albanian company.

Even the businessman for solid minerals, Hasan Meshi from the vicinity of Has in Albania, has blamed the Albanian state for the establishment of the mineral rent, until he requested that it be removed.

For three years now, businessman Meshi has not been able to export his material to Kosovo, namely to the Deva factory, because of this tax. Meshi has thousands of tons of poor chromium left at the border point in Qafë Prush, since which the mining rent has increased.

"It stops here, the mining rent is 9 percent of the reference price, this means that the mining rent makes me more expensive than all the chrome that I sell. Why this is done and who is to blame, I don't know the Albanian state, that of Kosovo, but more the Albanian state... I want a solution for this matter. I have been paying the workers for 4 years and I have no debt to the state anywhere. And the state has become a very big obstacle for us, so that we are forced to close my business. Within the country for internal sales, the mining rent was removed for three years, while I was sent to Kosovo, where I have close to 15 kilometers, for this matter I collected it. the rent must be zero for export to Kosovo. For this matter, I have accumulated here how many kilometers to send me to Kosovo, because I have 15 kilometers from the factory", says Meshi.

The Koçi businessman is also blaming the Kosovar authorities for not granting a permit for exploration and exploitation in order to cope with the capacity of the factory in supplying the raw material.

Koçi points out that they have applied to be provided with an exploitation permit, but to date there has been no response from the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals (KPMM).

"Regarding the part of Kosovo, we have been looking for several years to get an exploitation permit, a prospecting permit, and until today we have not received any permit. We have promises and we hope that recently a draft law will be passed in the parliament for the amendment of the Mining Law in Kosovo and the granting of exploration, discovery and exploitation permits. Today in Kosovo, permits are granted, but they are allocated for exploration and not for exploitation. But the term of these permits is very long. This goes up to 7 years. We do not say that we will be supplied with all the necessary quantity from Kosovo, but that quantity, however small it may be, will be a great help in providing the raw material for this factory. We are mainly supplied by the mines in Albania that belong to the area of ​​Tropoja, Hasi", he says.

This plant has remained inactive since December 2019, where it has hardly worked at all. From 45 employees before, now only 5-6 factory maintenance workers continue to work.

The worker Valdet Asllani, who works in this factory for maintenance, says that the administrator from Albania is supporting them with wages, but nevertheless, his wish is to start working the factory for all the workers who have been at work.

"Now there are four or five of us, I want to work with everyone. The requests are for work, but let's see now in the future what is being done. Is your landlord supporting you with wages? Yes, it supports us for the work we do, but our wish is for the factory to start working for everyone", he emphasized.

Neither the Government of Kosovo, namely the Ministry of Economy, nor the KPMM have responded to the barriers facing the chrome factory in Gjakovë.

The New Enterprise, the Chrome Enrichment Factory in Devë, Gjakova, was reactivated after the privatization process. This factory has all licenses and certificates from Kosovo institutions. /Telegraph/