Pristina (MINA-BUSINESS) - Big differences between tax rates and excise duties are the main cause of cigarette smuggling which can only be eliminated by harmonising tax systems and customs duties, Montenegrin Finance Minister Miroslav Ivanisevic told a Balkan conference on a clampdown on cigarette smuggling in Pristina attended by finance ministers of the region. "Montenegro has achieved significant results in reducing the black economy and increased revenue from excise duties, customs and taxes. These will become even higher as the border control and the supervision of excise duty payments strengthens and some of tax reforms start to be implemented," he said. The conference in Pristina, organised under the auspices of the United Nations Mission for Kosovo (UNMIK), was attended by finance ministers of Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia, Croatia and Bulgaria. UNMIK estimates that Kosovo loses 30 million euros a year as some 300 tonnes of cigarettes are smuggled through Kosovo each month.