In a conversation with a Logos Press correspondent, market operators noted that by the end of this week, the Moldovan market already has offers for 2026-harvest potatoes at a wholesale price of 4.5–6 lei/kg. This range has not yet become the “working price” level for most transactions in wholesale markets, but the situation is moving in that direction. And this price level represents the “seasonal low” based on a long-term average.
Price monitoring by the EastFruit portal shows that this week, wholesale potatoes in Moldova cost an average of 8 lei/kg ($0.51/kg), which is significantly more expensive than in Ukraine ($0.36/kg) and Poland ($0.25/kg). However, the portal’s experts point out the significant fact that potato prices on the Ukrainian market are falling rapidly, at a rate of -15% per week. By the end of this week, Ukrainian producers are offering potatoes for sale at 12–20 UAH/kg ($0.27–0.45/kg). At the same time, according to market participants, the “working price” is trending toward the lower end of this range. I would also note that “prices for new-crop potatoes are plummeting in neighboring Poland as well.” And in Moldova, some market operators claim that “there is no longer any demand for potatoes at a wholesale price of 8 lei/kg.”
All in all, it seems very likely that, barring another severe weather disaster in the second half of this summer, Central and Eastern Europe—at the very least—will find themselves on the brink of a “potato crisis” this fall for the second year in a row.
