Overview

• Russia’s potato prices have jumped more than 160 percent year-on-year after a late frost and reduced planting cut 2024 output by roughly 12 percent.
• Spring imports from Egypt, China, Pakistan, Mongolia and Belarus have tripled to offset domestic shortfalls and relieve record retail costs.
• Military mobilization for the Ukraine conflict has drained farm labor, compounding planting and harvest challenges.
• President Putin publicly admitted “too few potatoes” this year as Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut pledged a harvest boost and Belarus lifted import bans to support Russia.
• Officials plan to expand cultivation areas ahead of the summer crop to rebuild domestic supply and ease the burden on low-income and elderly households.