Kosovo businesses under threat from Trump's USAID freeze

Qazim Grashtica, recycling worker, drives his tractor searching for plastic, in Pristina, Kosovo February 22, 2025. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has given him a small tractor and a machine that crushes plastic. REUTERS/Valdrin Xhemaj

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kenan Gashi saws the limbs off old mannequins in his shop in Kosovo and throws them into machines donated by the U.S. government that shred and clean the plastic so it can be sold for reuse.

Gashi's recycling business in Fushe Kosova was transformed when it received the equipment from the U.S. international aid agency (USAID) two years ago, prompting him to draw up plans to hire more workers.