05/30/2025

Russia has a new problem: potatoes are being sold in stores at twice the price they were a few months ago, and prices for onions and cabbage have soared. Russian experts believe that the reason for everything is high demand and a poor harvest. Now potatoes are being delivered to the nuclear-armed state not only from Egypt, but also from China and even Mongolia.

In Russia, potatoes are more expensive than bananas

Every other year in Russia, there is a new food crisis. Russian pensioners fought for sugar, then stood in lines at night for cheap eggs, then were outraged by the prices of butter. Now here is a new tragedy – the favorite product of Russians – potatoes and beets – is disappearing. And after it, the price of onions and cabbage has also increased .

Back in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin was happily rubbing his hands and declaring that Europeans would have to travel to Russia even for turnips. According to him, Russia has everything, and the harvest level significantly exceeds that in Europe.

“It’s not their fault that the weather conditions are like this, the drought and everything else, but it will be difficult for them to do without our fertilizers to increase their yields,” Putin said.

And how he scolded. In the spring of 2025, potatoes in his country were sold at sky-high prices – 100–150 rubles (50–75 UAH). Overseas bananas are sold at the same price – 120 rubles. And that’s not all. Cabbage in supermarkets costs more than 100 rubles (50 UAH), onions 80–90 rubles (40–45 UAH). Apples have risen in price significantly – 120–220 rubles, depending on the variety (60–110 UAH). And they also threaten to go into deficit.

They rob dachas and take out potatoes

Now residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg are busy going around the city’s supermarkets in search of cheaper potatoes. Some still have stocks of 80 rubles left, and there is a queue immediately after them.

Pensioners in chat rooms share information about where to buy cheap potatoes, onions, and beets. The information is classified as a military secret and is only shared with acquaintances.

Owners of dachas where they still grow potatoes are now selling their product at high prices.

“We thought the potatoes would rot in the basement, but no, this year we even sold rotten ones. Our neighbors were happy to take them, cheaper than in supermarkets. We planted potatoes for the next season more than one and a half times, I think we didn’t make a mistake,” a resident of the Moscow region boasts in one of the public forums.

Other garden owners write that they planted more onions, carrots, and beets.

“You don’t know what the deficit will be made of. So it’s better to play it safe. City dwellers will buy more expensive things in the spring,” boasts a resident of Lyubertsy.

Russians also complain that now dacha robbers are more likely to take potatoes and anything else that can be added to a borscht set. They say that they have begun to rob basements in dacha cooperatives en masse.

Also, pensioners have already switched to pasta, which is much cheaper than scarce potatoes.

“Look at the prices of vegetables, tomatoes are 200 rubles (100 UAH), cucumbers are 250 rubles (125 UAH). It seems like they are being brought to us from the Moon,” Russians complain in the comments.

China and Mongolia will be flooded with potatoes

The reason for the potato shortage in Russia is last year’s crop failure and farmers’ reluctance to grow vegetables, as the costs to raise them are increasing and the price to sell them is low. Moreover, most of the fertilizers, as well as seeds, are imported. This means that the prices in rubles for all this have increased. Not to mention fuel, modern storage facilities, which are very few in Russia, so the harvested crop rots and loses its marketability by spring.

Even Alexander Lukashenko couldn’t help the Russians with potatoes. He refused Putin, saying that Belarusians themselves needed potatoes. Now he’s calling on all Belarusians to grow potatoes, since the cold spring has ruined part of the harvest.

And Putin is now urging Russians to switch to subsistence farming and grow this root crop.

Russia will look for help from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, China, Mongolia, and Israel . Since January, 350,000 tons have been imported, which is 250,000 tons more than last year. This is how import substitution works.

We need to hold out until the fall, until the new harvest is harvested. However, we can’t count on it either – the frosts have done their job, and planting potatoes in June in the Russian Federation will not work, they will not have time to ripen, except in the southernmost regions. But there is a possibility of drought there.