Russia: A Big Potato Harvest Is No Guarantee of Low Prices, Rossiyskaya Gazeta Analysis Finds
The 2026 organized-sector harvest may reach around 8 million tonnes, yet abundant supply does not automatically translate into cheap potatoes for consumers.
Russia’s 2026 potato harvest in the organized sector may total around 8 million tonnes, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on 18 October 2026 — but an abundant supply does not guarantee low prices for consumers, the newspaper’s analysis found. Producers face high storage costs and difficult terms from retail chains; wholesale prices fell sharply at the start of the season after last year’s record crop, but retail prices did not follow at the same pace.
The analysis follows our own 13 October report on Rosstat data showing potato stocks in agricultural enterprises 27.2% below last year at the end of September, alongside a reported 13.1% month-on-month retail price decline in September.
Alexey Krasilnikov, executive director of the Russian Potato Union, linked the price picture to a storage shortfall in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta covered by Gazeta.ru on 19 October 2026: Russia is short roughly 2 million tonnes of potato storage capacity. Without enough storage, growers are forced to sell right after harvest, when supply peaks and prices fall, he said, noting that such facilities require costly investment. Krasilnikov put this season’s harvest at around 8 million tonnes — slightly below last year but sufficient for market needs; other estimates, including AB-Centre’s, put the crop closer to 7.5 million tonnes, so sources currently span a 7.5–8 million tonne range. He put the borscht-basket vegetable harvest at a separate 5 million tonnes.
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Sources: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 18 October 2026; Gazeta.ru, 19 October 2026 (interview with Alexey Krasilnikov, Russian Potato Union); POTATOES NEWS, 13 October 2026 report on Rosstat data; FreshPlaza, 7 September 2026 (AB-Centre estimate).
A grower’s view: build storage, grow seed at home
Vasily Finogeev, general director of Krasny Mayak, a diversified farm in the Rostov district of the Yaroslavl region and one of the region’s largest potato producers, shared his position with POTATOES NEWS. His comments have been edited for clarity.
On marketing structures: «Contract production should definitely be of interest — this story needs to be developed. And storage facilities must be built, unequivocally. We get a price collapse every autumn, even though autumn is the peak sales season: state buyers like the FSIN and the Ministry of Defence are procuring, some buy for winter stockpiling, and private households keep the habit of having potatoes in the cellar.»
On seed: «If there is demand, there will be supply — perhaps not always of the best quality at first, though lately imported seed has been far from the best either, with many disease problems. We still rely on their breeding, but multiplication must happen here, inside Russia. This year I visited Slava Kartofelya — their meristem laboratory and greenhouses; these guys are doing exactly the right work, and they should be earning money from it. That path is faster than importing potatoes while breaking the market for our own seed producers. My view: seed potatoes must be produced in Russia. Varieties are a harder question — but seed production, here.»
