“The 2019/20 potato season in the Ukraine turned out to be the most unprecedented within the whole history of our monitoring,” says the market information company Fruit-Inform in a recent report.
“We expected an increase of potato imports into the Ukraine of up to 21,000 tons in our autumn forecast. However, as of March, the imports totaled 300,000 tons! Moreover, we believe that potato imports are underestimated, and the real volumes may total even 450,000 tons, while the official data will most likely vary between 315,000-325,000 tons.
“Such a difference is based on unaccounted volumes of potatoes imported to Ukraine from Russia through uncontrolled parts of the border in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.”
Why have imports grown so significantly? Firstly, in the very beginning of the season, the Ukrainian mass media were sharing the information about a sharp fall in domestic potato production, and, under conditions of an artificial deficit, Ukraine started importing potatoes in July.
Secondly, potato prices in Ukraine were much higher than in neighboring countries; therefore, importers were able to continue to ship potatoes from Belarus and Russia.
The official statistics show Ukrainian potato production to be one of the worst for at least the past 5 seasons in 2019
