Russia considers regulating potato prices "for national security reasons"

The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma cited Rosstat data, according to which in 2024 retail prices for potatoes increased by 92% - from 28 rubles per kg in December 2023 to almost 57 rubles in December 2024. At the same time, since the beginning of 2025, prices have increased by another 23.9% year-on-year. "This poses a threat to food security, especially for low-income citizens," Chernyshov said. 

The deputy recalled that the government decree allows for the introduction of maximum prices for some socially significant food products for up to 90 days if their price increases by 10% or more for 60 consecutive days, taking into account seasonal factors. 

The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma asked the Ministry of Economic Development to monitor the dynamics of potato prices and, in case of confirmation of an increase in costs above the established parameters, introduce a temporary price restriction. He emphasized that in the current situation, this is a reasonable measure that will protect Russians from unreasonable increases in the price of basic products.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during a government report to the State Duma on March 26 that the government had done everything in its power to curb food prices: it had supported domestic producers, restricted the export of certain goods abroad, and expanded imports from "friendly" countries, including the abolition of duties on potatoes, carrots, apples, butter, and meat. 

However, the prime minister considers the steps of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), which is not fully combating intermediaries’ margins, to be insufficient. Cases were identified when they reached 50%, as a result of which the consumer was forced to buy goods three and a half times more expensive, Mishustin said. It is the FAS that plays a significant role in price regulation, "especially when it comes to basic products," the prime minister emphasized. "Currently, a number of retail chains are voluntarily limiting margins on some items of socially significant food products, which include potatoes," the FAS noted.

In 2024, the potato harvest in Russia fell sharply: a total of 7.3 million tons were dug up, compared to 8.5 million tons a year earlier. However, the Ministry of Agriculture said that "this volume provides most of the domestic needs." "To increase potato production this year, the area planted with them will increase by 6.5 thousand hectares and will exceed 286 thousand hectares," the ministry noted.

Potatoes are becoming more expensive due to increased imports and a lack of high-quality Russian products that stores could put on their shelves, said Tatyana Gubina, head of the apparatus of the Union of Potato and Vegetable Market Participants. "Now we have potatoes on the scales that retail chains are not taking. This is where some decision may have to be made to get this product on the shelves," Gubina said. Currently, potatoes are imported to Russia from distant countries such as Egypt and Turkey, which makes them more expensive, says former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Leonid Kholod. In addition, according to him, new potatoes are now being delivered, which are themselves more expensive. Russians should expect a drop in vegetable prices no earlier than in July, when their harvest arrives, the expert concluded.