March 22 2006, 11:11

Potatoes from Egypt help cover potato shortage on the Ukrainian market

Importers try to cover the shortage of potatoes noted in Ukraine this year by bringing potatoes from various countries. Ukraine's most popular Produce Industry magazine "Agrooglyad: Fruits & Vegetables" informed earlier about imports of potatoes from Russia and Belarus.

Imports of potatoes from other countries have recently gone up. Presently, there is a significant offer of potatoes of Egyptian origin on the Ukrainian market. The price for Egyptian potatoes is slightly higher than the price of locally grown potatoes, however, it looks much better, which makes it more attractive for supermarkets. It is also worth mentioning, that according to official statistics, Egypt has produced 2.5 million tons of potatoes in 2005, which is almost 8 times less, than total potato production in Ukraine.

Besides the Egyptian potato, there are also Lebanon potatoes observed on the markets of Kiev. Many market participants have also reported about Polish potatoes on the market. Essential volumes potatoes from Poland are sold in different regions of Ukraine. We shall note, that potato prices in Poland are close to US $0.20-0.34 per kg. However, the import duty (of 20%) and the VAT, together with transportation costs, if paid appropriately, would make this potato very expensive in Ukraine. At the same time, the actual price of the Polish potatoes on the Ukrainian markets makes it very doubtful that importers are actually paying all of the duties in full.