According to EastFruit, in 2025, Russia and Belarus are both grappling with significant disruptions in their potato markets, a staple food deeply embedded in their cultural identities. Prices are record high and keep climbing up. Both dictators – Putin and Lukashenko are worried, as potato was traditionally one of the cheapest sources of calories for the local consumers, specifically for the poor.
Russia’s Potato Price Surge
Russia has witnessed an unprecedented surge in potato prices, with retail costs escalating by 52% since the beginning of the year, reaching a record high of 85-130 rubles ($1.0-1.6) per kilogram. Consumers are puzzled why potato prices exceed these of exotic fruits imported from very distant countries?
Potatoes are among the key contributors to Russia’s main economic problem – very high inflation. In March 2025 Russia’s annual inflation reached 10.3%, driven largely by war spending and food price surges.
Prices of potatoes in Russia are fueled by money printing to cover the costs of war as well as by a drop in the previous year’s harvest, caused by adverse weather conditions such as spring frosts and heavy rains. Additionally, following a bumper crop in 2023, many farmers reduced their potato planting areas, anticipating lower demand, which has now contributed to the shortage.
In response, the Russian government has lifted import duties to boost potato imports, aiming to triple them to 376,000 tons in 2025, with a significant portion sourced from Egypt. Presently most of the potatoes on the shelves of the Russian supermarkets are imported from Egypt, Pakistan, China and other countries.
Since Russia has banned itself from being able to import potatoes and other food from the EU countries, USA, Ukraine and many other large global producers, it is limited to importing from the distant suppliers.
Read also: Belarus, following Kazakhstan, has blocked Russia’s access to apples
Belarus’s Domestic Shortage Amid Exports
Meanwhile, Belarus is facing its own potato crisis, characterized by a domestic shortage and rising prices. The average price of reached 5 Belarusian rubles ($1.53) per kilogram. Consumers report difficulties in finding quality potatoes, with available stocks often being small and damaged.
Experts attribute this scarcity to state-imposed price controls, which make it unprofitable for producers to sell potatoes on the domestic market. Consequently, many farmers are exporting their produce to Russia, where they can fetch higher prices. This dynamic has led to public discontent, prompting Alexander Lukashenka to address the issue publicly. He acknowledged the problem, attributing it to increased exports to Russia and conflicting price expectations between consumers and farmers.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
