Mimoza Kusari-Lila: Oil price drop expected to be symbolic, just 1-2 cents

Acting Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship, Trade and Innovation, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, has warned that Kosovo’s citizens may experience slight relief in fuel costs in the coming period, but this decrease will not be substantial.

During a conversation for Ekonomia Online, she explained that recent imports have recorded a minimal drop of one cent, and if this trend continues, then consumer prices will reflect this movement.

“If the cycle continues like yesterday, in the following days we might notice a decrease, but it is not at all dramatic. It’s about 1 or 2 cents. Yesterday’s import was 1 cent lower than previous days, and I hope this continues, because we’ve had a difference of almost 20 cents from the current price,” said Kusari-Lila.

She reconfirmed that the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship, Trade and Innovation (MINTI) is analyzing the extension of the decision to set a price ceiling and a fixed profit margin for oil traders. According to her, this intervention has served as a shield for citizens against strong and sudden increases.

The acting minister explained the mechanism of applying the measure: “Since April, we use the average of 10 million liters imported, to which we add the allowed margin. This means that when there is a rapid increase, the effect is softened for the consumer, because imports from previous days are also taken into account. Likewise, the decline is reflected gradually. This measure acts as a stabilizer between strong market fluctuations.”

She emphasized that since Kosovo has no production capacities or refineries, movements on international stock exchanges are not felt immediately in the country.

According to Kusari-Lila, the absence of this measure would push the price even higher, especially now that demand has increased due to the influx of cars during the summer. “In a free market, with supply and demand, the price would be higher, because the number of vehicles has increased from the diaspora. We see this also in imports. The data we receive twice a day from Customs show this trend,” she added.

As part of the policy review, Kusari-Lila announced that two paths are being examined: changing the methodology within the existing administrative instruction, or, if the market stabilizes, completely removing the measure and tracking the price directly according to imports.

She confirmed the continuous pressure from oil associations, who demand the removal of the profit margin, arguing that the increase in other expenses, including the minimum wage, is harming them. “We have a request for an urgent meeting and we will meet them soon. This is a delicate balance, because we must protect citizens without endangering operators. We are conducting assessments taking into account both global developments and our internal situation,” she concluded.