The Republic of Kosovo is a state established on 17.02.2008, it is situated in Southeast Europe in the central part of Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered in Southwest with Albania, in Northwest with Montenegro, in North with Serbia and East and Southeast with Macedonia. Pursuant to Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo approved on 16.06.2008, the Republic of Kosovo is a multi-ethnic state, where also the international institutions are placed as are EULEX that is as the monitor for implementation of Constitution, Court and Police. Topographically, Kosovo represents a flat pond surrounded by high mountains in all sides.

• Land area: 10,908 km² (4,212 square miles).
• Population No.: 1,859,203 (2014).
• Ethnicity: 92% Albanians, 4% Serbs, 4% others (Turks, Roma, etc.).
• Demographics: 49.66% female, 50.34% male.
• Literacy rate: 89.8% female, 97.7% male.
• Government: The Presidency of the Republic of Kosovo, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
• Currency: Euro (€).
• GDP per head: 3,000 Euro (2016).
• Unemployment: 32.90 % (2015).
• Inflation: 2.15% (average 2003-2015).
• Major industries: Agriculture, Energy, Mining.
• Imports: 271,550,000 € (2016): Serbia (14.50%), Germany (11.19%), Turkey (9.58%), China (8.84%), Albania (5.77 %), Macedonia (5.46%), Others (36.22%).
• Exports: 36,633,000 € (2016).

The main economic driver of Kosovo has been primary industry (agriculture and forestry, mining and energy), with manufacturing providing a minor contribution to the generation of wealth. Some 30% of GDP is provided by remittances from the diaspora (mainly in Germany and Switzerland) who account for 20% of Kosovo’s pre-1999 civilian war population.

Over 65% of the working population resident within Kosovo is employed within the agricultural sector. Formerly, Kosovo had a large negative trade balance in this sector. Food products are now the largest import segment, accounting for 30% of imports by value.

Apart from the mining of lignite by the energy provider, Kosovo Electricity Company (KEK), and the extraction of construction minerals, the formal mining sector has stagnated since the 1999 NATO intervention and there have not yet carried out active mining operations.

At 34%, plastics and wood contribute most to exports, followed by metals (31%), which are almost exclusively derived from scrap.

The energy sector has been adversely affected by a lack of investment to replace ageing Eastern Bloc equipment. There are two lignite-fired thermal power plants (TPP) and these are also in need of refurbishment. Some 50% of all electricity generated by KEK is either lost as a result of technical problems or not paid for by the consumers, so that the company receives payment for only 40% of the electricity it generates, to serve the domestic market, although disruption by power outages means that energy supplies have to be supplemented by imports.

KEK power plant in Prishtina

Kosovo’s minerals sector was a key provider to the economy of the former Yugoslavia. The geology of Kosovo is varied and has resulted in a wide range of minerals being present in mineable quantities. These include lignite, lead-zinc, silver, nickel, chrome, aluminium, magnesium and a wide variety of construction materials. Mismanagement and underinvestment, as well as the political developments in former Yugoslavia that resulted in NATO intervention, have had a dramatic negative effect on Kosovo’s mining industry and on the amount of metals produced throughout the region. This emphasises the major role that Kosovo played in the economy of the former Yugoslavia as a provider of raw materials.