The Ministry of Agriculture stated that it led to this situation high demand and the innoatous 2024 year. In this way the authorities reacted to a rapid increase in prices for “a borscht set”. According to Rosstat, the retail price of potatoes increased by 166.5 percent during the year, and onions onions and white cabbage – by 87.2 percent, respectively. and 56.8 percent The price of beets increased by 11.9 percent, and tomatoes – by 1.2 percent
However, the Ministry of Agriculture does not see a problem in the current situation. In the issued announcement, it pointed out that generally the increase in vegetable prices is lower than the level of food price inflation. It was also promised to reduce dependence on imports by increasing the cultivation area and the expansion of vegetable warehouses, whose total capacity is currently 9.2 million tons – i.e. by 147 thousand. tons more than a year ago.
At the end of April, the average retail price of potatoes in Russia amounted to 84.7 rubles (about PLN 4) for 1 kg – this is an increase of 27.9 rubles (PLN 1.32) from the beginning of the year. A representative of the Lenta supermarket chain stated that the supplies from last year's collections have been exhausted, adding that currently on store shelves there are mainly potatoes from Egypt. Deliveries also go from Pakistan and China.
“Inflation of potato prices” accelerates after a sharp decline in harvest caused by frosts and drought. Last year, farmers collected 7.3 million tons of potatoes – by 1.2 million tons less than a year ago. At the same time, the Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut estimated domestic potato consumption for 8 million tons. In May this year there was also frosts, which threatens to decrease the collections even more.
As at May 12, the average retail price of onions onions is 72.3 ruble (3.4 PLN) for 1 kg, and white cabbage – 75.2 ruble (3.6 PLN) for 1 kg. In this case, as one of the reasons for increases in prices, the authorities also gave a decrease in crop. According to the AB-CCENTER analytical agency in 2024, a collection of cabbage in the industrial sector of vegetable cultivation decreased by 5.6 percent. (up to 873.6 thousand tons), and onion harvest fell to 1.12 million tons, decreasing by 0.7 percent.
