Overview

• The 2024 harvest declined by about 12% after unseasonable frosts and drought damaged over 265,000 hectares of potato crops.
• Potato prices have climbed 52% since January, making them the fastest-rising component of Russia’s food inflation.
• President Putin admitted on state television that national reserves are exhausted and is appealing to foreign partners for assistance.
• Belarus’s own stocks are depleted, leading President Lukaschenko to urge farmers to boost plantings and end the EU fruit and vegetable ban.
• The shortage endangers staple dishes and private vodka distillation in Russia, and sanctions restrict options for importing substitutes.