The Book Fair opens today in its 25th edition. This year tends to resemble the pre-pandemic years in terms of the number of participants, with restrictions avoided and a host of activities planned.
The problem that tops the list of complaints from publishers this year is the increase in the price of paper. This will lead to a further increase in the price of the book, which is considered a luxury product in times of crisis.

Even this year, the publishers reiterated their concern that there should be a more favorable fiscal policy for them, taking a cue from the European one, that in production the tax is only 5%, while in Albania it is much higher. The demand for tax cuts is a refrain that publishing houses repeat at the fair every year. Another problem in the market, which publishers unanimously affirm, is the lack of investment in bookstores.

The return after many years of the book VAT in January 2019 and finally the fiscalization process that also involved the operators of the book market, have put this market in further difficulties. Unfortunately, according to publishers, this is encouraging the informality of the publishing market and penalizing operators who work in accordance with the legal-regulatory framework in force.

/A.S/