Potatoes in winter may cost 50-55 UAH per kilogram.
Winter prices for potatoes in Ukraine will likely jump to 50-55 UAH per kilogram.
This was reported by Maksym Gopka, an analyst at the Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business, in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.
According to Gopka, the average price of potatoes on the wholesale market is currently 19-22 UAH, and in supermarkets – 30-35 UAH per kilogram. The high price is primarily due to the summer drought, which is why farmers in some regions of the country were unable to fully harvest the crop. At the same time, Ukrainians can expect an increase in taxes, “so, unfortunately, there will be no significant reduction in prices.”
The analyst added that in October, there is usually a maximum supply of potatoes on the market, which accordingly leads to a seasonal drop in prices. But this year, the situation is atypical – in some regions, they are even still trying to harvest the potatoes, and this is not the second harvest of the season, but the first, which they could not harvest on time due to the too hard soil.
“In general, this concerns more Central and Eastern Ukraine. Perhaps, in Western Ukraine there were not such big problems, because the climate there is slightly different. But in the overall picture, it is also recorded that potatoes are in small volumes, but are still being collected, and this has affected the price. But even if we collect these potatoes, I am not sure that the price will drop very much. Therefore, unfortunately, there will not be any significant price reduction,” Gopka explained.
He noted that potato prices in the coming months are likely to only increase, since the harvest requires additional costs during storage.
“Most likely, in April, the vast majority of products that will be on the shelves will be imported products… For the end consumer, with all the markups, I think that we can safely approach a price of 50-55 UAH per kilogram, that's for sure. But this is an optimistic option. A realistic one could even be a little more, that is, 60 UAH,” the analyst predicted.
According to Maksym Gopka, importing potatoes from Egypt and the EU is unlikely to help curb the growth of potato prices in winter.
“We need to understand that we have additional costs for logistics and temporary storage. Plus the markup that is present directly at the importers. Therefore, all this together may not allow the price to rise further, but it will not break it or allow it to fall,” the analyst concluded.
Recall that consumer inflation in Ukraine has accelerated. The devaluation of the hryvnia and the increase in excise taxes are pushing prices up, but moderately.