There is no Book Fair in June, publishers are waiting for help from the state

The Book Fair will break a two-decade tradition. It will not be held in June. The organizers on Tuesday have formalized the suspension of one of the largest cultural organizations in the country. Such a thing was warned at the beginning of the pandemic, but for the Association of Publishers of Kosovo it is impossible for the 22nd edition to be held at least until the fall.

"As a result of the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the decisions of the Government of Kosovo, in which case the organization of fairs is not allowed, the 22nd book fair 'Prishtina 2020' is suspended", says the announcement posted on Tuesday on the page of this association on "Facebook". "The fair was planned to be held, as usual, in the first week of June. The Fair has not been completely cancelled, with the hope that the conditions will mature so that the main event of the book activity in Kosovo can be held in the fall".

Apart from the reader, the fair has been one of the main book sales events. With the first half of last year with minimal sales, they now fear another crisis. After the suspension of the Fair - the publishers have requested an "infusion" from the state through the much-discussed emergency package. Through a letter addressed to the Ministry of Culture these days, the Association of Publishers of Kosovo has requested that publishers who have applied with projects be helped more than expected.

Until March 2, publishers in the country had a deadline to submit their projects in this year's calls for financial support for the purchase of books for 2020, for the publication of literary magazines, as well as for financial support for the publication of books.

"As far as I know, somewhere around 110 euros have been planned for both calls, for all publishers, and we ask that this figure be tripled", said the chairman of the Association of Publishers of Kosovo, Edon Zeneli, on Tuesday.

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But the Ministry of Culture is still not clear when it will open the "bag" to support publishers in the country. While they have not clarified the 5-million package, dedicated to the needs of the culture sector, this ministry has promised that publishers will have priority among those who will benefit from this support.

Acting Minister of Culture, Vlora Dumoshi, has said that the institution she leads has planned to create working groups, which will also include representatives of publishers in the country. The working groups were warned as early as March.

"They live with the sale of the book, but we still don't have the fund and for now we stay within the Ministry with our subsidies to help them in their projects", Dumoshi told KOKHE.

While she did not give details about the 5-million amount that she was asked to find within the Ministry, she mentioned about 4 million euros in financial obligations that she inherited since she was appointed to this post.

"Despite this, I am in favor of supporting the book and in the promised package publishers will be included as a priority", added Minister Dumoshi.

While the Ministry of Culture has not yet contacted publishers to "record" their actual situation, publisher Edon Zeneli has said that this may be understandable due to the state of the pandemic.

"I am convinced that the Ministry of Culture will respond positively to the demands of the publishers who, compared to other fields, remain modest in their demands", said Zeneli.

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Regarding the emergency package, where an additional 5 million euros would be added to MKRS, he said that the expectations of the publishers are that they will also be part of this support.

Speaking about the request of the publishers for the allocation of an amount of over 300 thousand euros in the three calls for applications of the Ministry, Zeneli estimated that this amount would somewhat mitigate the damages created by the closing of the bookstores, the non-holding of the Fair and the fall that will suffer the sale of the book throughout the year.