This happened noticeably later than last year. Prices range from 40 lei/kg (supermarkets) to 65 lei/kg (fruit and vegetable “neighborhood stores”). That is, the price of young potatoes is about 2-2.5 times higher than in April 2024. Imported (Romanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian) potatoes of last year’s harvest in supermarkets in Chisinau, depending on the packaging and pre-sale preparation (unwashed/washed) are offered not more than 20 lei/kg.
Last year, traders explained the early start (in March) of sales of young potatoes by the active offer of cheap (in bulk – less than $1/kg) Egyptian goods. In 2025, potatoes from Egypt did not come to Moldova. The first batches of young potatoes to RM came from Macedonia. This country has already become a traditional supplier of early potatoes to the Moldovan market. Moreover, this year it came to Moldovan retailers about a week earlier than in 2024. According to traders, in Macedonia, the wholesale price of potatoes for export currently fluctuates within 1-1.2 euros/kg.
It is likely that the high price for early potatoes in Moldova will last until summer. Some local farmers growing extra-early potatoes in tunnels (a type of unheated low arch greenhouses) claim that most of the crop will be lost due to April frosts.
