A potato shortage puts Belarus’s “First Farmer” Alexander Lukashenka in hot water

For some months now, Belarusians have been complaining about stores selling overpriced or poor-quality potatoes, or not selling any at all. The authorities are trying to solve the problem by raising the selling price and introducing licences for exporting potatoes abroad. Meanwhile, Belarus’s Ministry of Anti-Monopoly Regulation and Trade (MART), which monitors vegetable stocks, continues to claim that the potato penury is imaginary.

In the beginning were exports

In early April, journalists from the independent Belarusian outlet Zerkalo revealed that the government had been nervous since mid-February. MART summoned to a meeting the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Minsk municipal and regional authorities, and representatives of the major food retailers, including Evroopt, Santa, Green, Almi, Korona, Guippo, Sosedi, and Dobronom. The meeting’s subject was the ongoing vegetable shortage.

Alexander Lukashenka, “Comrade Farmer No. 1”

Belarusian leader In February, the potato problem reached the desk of President Alexander Lukashenka. He was indignant: “It turns out we don't have any potatoes. How high has the price of potatoes gone? How much have prices risen since the potato season? Can't we just produce the right quantity of potatoes, store them and then sell them to the public?” Lukashenka railed against members of his government, accusing them of failing to curb prices and of ignoring his advice. As for the complaints he had received directly from citizens, he urged patience. is a major personal beneficiary of soaring food prices: “The company that manages his agricultural assets generated around 1.2 billion rubles (almost €320 million) in sales, with year-on-year growth of 15%, well above the national average of 3.4%”, reports the independent outlet Plan B. The business of the country's “First Farmer” covers 14 units – farms, milk producers, slaughterhouses, processing plants – on hundreds of thousands of hectares. It “operates across the whole chain: seeds, breeding, processing, and distribution in Belarus, Russia and China. Its main crops are potatoes, onions and cabbage, hence Lukashenka's various nicknames of ‘potato king’, ‘onion prince’ and ‘cabbage baron’”. Thanks in part to “virtually unlimited access to state financial resources, often disguised as support for agriculture”, the company recently made over 125 million rubles (around €33 million) in profits, notes Plan B. That figure was up 20% year on year, and rivals the largest European farms.

One reason for the penury seems to be that farmers have been offering retailers produce of “inappropriate” quality from the stockpiles of fruit and vegetables that tide them over between the major harvests.

Another issue is the regulation of farmers' prices, which makes it more profitable for them to sell vegetables on the export market rather than domestically – for example to Russia, where a kilo of potatoes is sold at twice the Belarusian price.

In February, the potato problem reached the desk of President Alexander Lukashenka. He was indignant: “It turns out we don't have any potatoes. How high has the price of potatoes gone? How much have prices risen since the potato season? Can't we just produce the right quantity of potatoes, store them and then sell them to the public?” Lukashenka railed against members of his government, accusing them of failing to curb prices and of ignoring his advice. As for the complaints he had received directly from citizens, he urged patience.

The authorities get on the case

Minsk has tried various tricks to put an end to the shortage. At the end of March, the government extended by three months the requirement for a licence to export potatoes abroad. Its justification: to “guarantee control of reserves, and also of potato export flows, in connection with rising demand and high prices abroad”.

Next, it raised the maximum price of several agricultural commodities, including potatoes. In March the price for a kilo of fresh potatoes for culinary use was capped at 76 kopeks (€0.20 at the time). During the following two months this figure was 1 ruble (around €0.32)

On 17 April, MART intervened with an announcement that “measures were being taken in Belarus to ensure that there are enough potatoes and other fruit and vegetables on store shelves”. Two days later, the antitrust ministry inspected 20 vegetable storage facilities and claimed to find no problems.

MART spokesperson Daria Polozkova offered reassurance: “The potato, like the other vegetables needed for borscht [traditional beet soup], is available. The government is taking swift action to solve the problem, which arose because of a price disparity which made it more profitable for our growers to offer their potatoes on foreign markets.”

Her remarks prompted some sceptical responses. “In an instant, [the price increases by] a third. And we don't have inflation? We hold it back as much as we can, and then wham: a 30% [increase]”, commented an economic analyst, Sergei Chalyi.

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‘We’re complaining because the potatoes in the stores have become too small and as green as the Incredible Hulk. And the farmers are telling us “How can we make a living if we can’t raise prices?”‘

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Zerkalo writes that in the Vitebsk region, over a thousand tons of potatoes have been “lost” – they have simply disappeared from sales records. The editors had access to exchanges between officials with the help of BELPOL [a project focused on “documenting the crimes of the Lukashenko regime”].

In addition, Zerkalo journalists recount that at the beginning of April, MART sent a confidential letter to the agriculture ministry, warning of “a situation of possible shortage of fresh cucumbers growing in the Republic's greenhouses”. Later that month, major retailers were soliciting the ministry's help in supplying the market.

‘Why are potatoes so expensive?’

A week after MART's check-up on vegetable stocks, Belarus is still abuzz with talk about shortages, high prices and poor quality. The problem affects not just potatoes but also vegetables such as onions and cabbages.

“Lately, it has suddenly become difficult to find decent potatoes in Evroopt and Hit stores”, complains a caller to Mediazona from a regional capital. “There are only small, dented ones.” Another caller from a different town claims to have been looking for potatoes “all over the neighbourhood” for the past few days.

One woman posted a video about it on her TikTok account: “We're complaining because the potatoes in the stores have become too small and as green as the Incredible Hulk. And the farmers are telling us, ‘How can we make a living if we can't raise prices?’ If you too have seen bad potatoes in the stores, say in the comments who you think is responsible.”

In another post on TikTok, a man shares his own experience: “A week ago, I couldn't find any cabbage [when I looked with] my mother in Ivanovo.” They went round four stores. “There was no cabbage either in the country or in the city.”

Over on Threads, another social-media platform, a user concurs that “potatoes are a problem in Belarus. [...] In the markets you can find them, more or less, but in the stores, nothing.” Another writes: “Well, the potatoes are back, but now where are the onions?”, while a third asks simply, “Why do potatoes cost so much?”

Online farmers

In late April, potatoes were available for sale on several internet retail sites, at prices that ranged from 2.74 rubles to 5.99 rubles per kilo, compared with the official price of 1 ruble.

Mediazona made enquiries of various farmers, posing as a customer. One of them gave his price directly: 3.80 rubles per kilo. The others said they didn't have any, but that the new harvest would start in June.

👉 Original article on Mediazona Belarus