Potato crisis in Russia and Belarus: What this means for Putin and Lukashenko

He called on every single citizen to plant potatoes: "We have grown more potatoes. And I also advise those who don’t yet cultivate potatoes to do so," the President of Belarus said at a meeting with regional officials.

"There’s still time, there’s still seed. This must be made clear to everyone," he emphasized. His call was reminiscent of US President Donald Trump’s call to extract as much oil as possible: "Drill, baby, drill!"

What happened? Potatoes are running out in Belarus due to poor harvests! The frost has done its "dirty work" and damaged the plants, the head of state complained.

Now, it’s not the case that the people of Belarus are threatened by famine because of this. Lukashenko emphasized that the situation in Belarusian agriculture is otherwise not critical. However, potatoes are a staple food in Belarus and traditionally hold a high value in the country’s cuisine.

Potatoes are central ingredients in traditional dishes such as "draniki" (potato pancakes), "kasha" (porridge, made from both grains and potatoes), "kalduni" (potato dumplings), and other regional specialties. When potatoes become scarce, people perceive this as a significant annoyance.

“This is hair-raising for Belarus”

And they’ve been complaining accordingly for weeks. A Belarusian woman vented her displeasure on TikTok after buying spoiled potatoes packaged in a yellow bag: "You can find potatoes like this in stores these days," she says in the video. "Wrapped in opaque bags so the buyer can’t see which potatoes they’re selling us. This is outrageous for Belarus and even shameful." The potatoes were "very small and rotten." "I had to throw half of them away."

In Russia, too, potatoes have a long tradition due to their versatility and are an essential ingredient in many classic dishes such as “vareniki” (Russian ravioli), “sharkoye” (potato goulash) and “Olivier salad”.

This is probably why Lukashenko’s counterpart, Vladimir Putin, became melancholy about the same topic. Russia is also currently experiencing a potato shortage due to unusually severe late frosts in May 2024, a fact the president admitted last week at a meeting with business and agricultural representatives, remembering his old man. His father had taught him how to grow potatoes: "Well, it’s not easy work," Putin said, "planting these potatoes and then pulling out the weeds."

Western European potato quota has been cancelled since 2014

Putin and Lukashenko had also contacted each other on the subject of potatoes: At the beginning of last week, the Russian president was informed by his Belarusian counterpart that the neighboring country could not export any more potatoes to Russia due to its own shortage.

Putin therefore expressed disappointment at the meeting with business representatives, which was broadcast on state television. The export of Belarusian food products to Russia, which enjoys a very good reputation there, has a long tradition. With 100,000 to 200,000 tons in 2023 and 2024, Belarus was by far the largest exporter of potatoes to Russia.

To somewhat offset the shortage, Russia began importing potatoes from Egypt, Turkey, Israel, and Pakistan earlier than usual, starting in January 2025. Together, these countries have exported 141,000 tons of potatoes to Russia so far this year.

Before the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Western European countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland collectively supplied Russia with between one and one and a half million tons. However, this quota has now been eliminated. While food exports are generally exempt from EU sanctions against Russia, Moscow responded to the EU’s food sanctions in 2014 with counter-sanctions, banning Russia from importing food products from the EU. This also applies to potatoes.

Potatoes in Russia were previously extremely cheap

The loss of potato imports and the shrunken domestic harvest, which, at 7.3 million tons in 2024, was 11.9 percent lower than in 2023, led to a steep increase in potato prices in Russia of 92 percent compared to the previous year. In percentage terms, this seems high, but it is also due to the fact that potatoes were previously unusually cheap in Russia. Their price fell by 15.8 percent and 31.5 percent in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

But last year’s inflation has recently risen sharply again: While in December 2024 a kilo of potatoes cost 56.9 rubles (65 euro cents), it now costs 91.8 rubles (104.8 euro cents) - an increase of a further 61 percent.

However, voices in Russia reject the idea of ​​explaining this development solely by unfavorable weather and unusually late frost: the shortage of potatoes and the resulting price increase were also caused by insufficient storage capacity for field crops in Russia, said Yelena Tyurina of the "Rossiskij Sernovoj Soyuz" (Russian Grain Union).

 "Modern technologies make it possible to store vegetables until the next year, that is, until the new harvest (Editor’s note: potatoes are harvested from August to October)," Tyurina said, "but there are few such storage facilities in the Russian Federation."

Where you can still get potatoes at old prices

However, a price per kilo of potatoes equivalent to about one euro isn’t killing people in Russia. While they’re feeling the effects of general price inflation of about ten percent, real wages have also risen by the same amount.

But because of the symbolic significance of the potato for Russian cuisine, there is now a lively debate among the Russian public about where potatoes can still be found at reasonable prices: "Despite the general rise in prices, you can still find offers on the shelves at old prices," writes the St. Petersburg regional portal "Fontanka.ru."

In various supermarkets, Russians can buy potatoes for between 9.99 rubles (11 cents) and 110 to 130 rubles (1.21 to 1.43 euros) per kilo. However, there are doubts about the quality, especially with these cheaper products.

Anyone who chooses the cheap offer from the supermarket “Narodnij No. 1” for 9.99 rubles per kilo should not be surprised if they end up like the Belarusian woman who complained on TikTok about the rotten potatoes that were slipped into an opaque bag.

High quality, high prices

The "Narodniy No. 1" chain, along with "Chishik" and "Svetofor," represents the lowest price segment in the Russian supermarket landscape. The "Diksi" chain, with its densely packed stores, is only slightly higher. It’s therefore not surprising that the cheapest, but also lowest-quality potatoes can be found at "Narodniy No. 1" and "Diksi."

"Pjaterochka," "Perekryostok," and "Magnolia" represent mid-range prices and quality food in Russia, while the hypermarkets of the French "Auchan" chain and the German retailer "Globus" often offer high quality at reasonable prices. At Globus, for example, unwashed and perfectly edible potatoes are currently available for 79.99 rubles (88.4 euro cents). However, "Auchan" and "Globus" are not available on every corner, unlike the numerous "Perekryostok" and "Pjaterochka" branches, which are spread across large cities and rural areas in metropolises like Moscow and St. Petersburg, and throughout Russia.

The highest quality in Russia is offered by the branches of the "Azbuka Vkusa" ("Alphabet of Taste") chain in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which, in terms of quality, rank close to Feinkost Käfer, Frische Paradies, or Rogacki in Germany. The quality at "Azbuka Vkusa" is always good, but the prices are above average. Potatoes from the chain currently cost between 238 and 348 rubles per kilo—two to three times the already significantly increased price.