Looming potato shortage for Russia

When Putin announced the boycott in the summer of 2014, he knew he could count on a good harvest. Local fruit and vegetables were available in abundance, and the country generally succeeded in finding new suppliers, for instance in China, Turkey, Israel, Morocco and the southern hemisphere. For the coming months, however, a potato shortage is looming.

Russians are real potato eaters. According to figures, a Russian eats 130 kilos of potatoes each year, and depending on what study you’re looking at, the consumption will increasing in the next years. Thanks to the good harvest and import from countries like Belarus, Russia was able to meet the potato demand in recent months.In the near future, Russia’s barns will empty, and Belarusian supplies are also starting to dry up. Russia will likely focus on North African countries for its potato import, but that doesn’t mean the problems have been solved. First of all, the seasons don’t follow up on each other very well, and it’s still unclear how these gaps will be plugged. In addition, the North African potato is generally more expensive than what the Russians are used to. Russian retailers fear shortages will arise, or that prices will go up even further.Are there other possibilities? Yes, a known fact is that exporters from Pakistan want to sell more potatoes in Russia. Pakistan has a market share of around 6.9%. And theoretically, Russia can (temporarily) lift the ban on potatoes from Europe or from a specific EU member state. There have been reports of Russia considering this, but those plans were shelved again.