Retail prices for potato are higher by almost 1.5 times in contrast with last year.
The retail price of fresh potatoes in Moscow stores and vegetable markets broke all records of last year. In mid-November, residents of the capital and its suburbs are buying potatoes for approximately 27-35 rubles per kilogram. Minimum prices are suggested by retail chains “Auchan”, “Dixie” and “Pyatyorochka”, where you can find native potatoes 18-22 rubles per kilogram. The quality and vendibility of vegetables in grocery discounters cannot be called even satisfactory.
High prices of potatoes this season arise from several factors: the rainy weather in the harvest season, a poor harvest national average, and imposed ban on imports for phytosanitary reasons.
Every year in Russia, according to the Agriculture Ministry of Russian Federation, it is grown about 30 million tons of potatoes, 25 million tons of which belong to private households and are not intended for sale. The remaining 5-5.5 million tons are not enough for the commodity turnover and industrial processing. According to the Federal Customs Service of Russian Federation, the country still imports about 400,000 tons of potatoes a year. The main importers for Russia are the producers of the Netherlands and Germany.