Two years ago, Latif Musaj - owner of the "Evropa" bakery in Mitrovica - suffered a huge loss in his business. As a result of floods caused by rainfall, all his equipment was damaged and he was forced to buy new, half-used ones to continue working.

According to him, the value of the damage that was determined by the evaluation commission is around 13 thousand euros.

None of this, he says, has yet to be compensated by the government.

"We have been caused so much damage that the value that was determined by the experts who were here is somewhere around 13 thousand euros. We have never been compensated by the government. We have sent the documentation, they verified it, they came to the scene, the cars were completely filled with water and they broke down. We have been forced to take some other half-used ones. We are living our lives waiting with hope," says Musaj.

In January 2023, the municipality of Mitrovica, as well as several other municipalities in Kosovo, were affected by flooding as a result of heavy rainfall.

They caused millions in damage to households, businesses, and agricultural lands.

The municipality of Mitrovica was the most affected, after that of Skenderaj.

Since then, two years have passed and the Government of Kosovo has still not financially compensated businesses and agricultural lands for the damages, although such a thing was promised.

Elvis Feka, Director of Economy, Development and Tourism in the Municipality of Mitrovica, tells KosovaPress that there are a total of 95 businesses in this municipality that have suffered damage from the floods, which according to him, despite completing the necessary documentation, have not yet been compensated by the central level.

According to him, the value of the damages to these businesses amounts to around 3.8 million euros.

"Unfortunately, up to this point, we do not have any information that these businesses have been compensated by the central level and this has major consequences for the economic development of the city of Mitrovica because many businesses have returned to zero, which potentially had a large number of workers who were left without jobs... Based on the report of the commission established by the Municipality of Mitrovica, the value of damages to businesses is around 3.8 million euros," says Feka.

Ferdi Kadriu, director of the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development in Mitrovica, emphasizes that there are 56 farmers identified from this municipality who have suffered damage from the floods, while the value of these damages is around 100 thousand euros.

He says that the municipality has responded several times to the Emergency Management Agency's request regarding some uncertainties, so that farmers can be compensated as soon as possible, but this has not happened yet.

"We have 56 identified farmers who have followed all procedures and who have been followed by the damage assessment commission. The value of the damages is around 100 thousand euros," says Kadri.

Also in the north of Mitrovica, there are six businesses - with Albanian owners - affected by the floods of January 2023, which have also not been compensated by the government so far.

The value of the damage to these businesses is estimated to be up to 100 thousand euros.

On the other hand, KosovaPress has not been able to get a response from the government on this issue for several times now./A.Damati