Russia ceased importing potatoes from Georgia in July, ending nine consecutive months of uninterrupted shipments, RIA Novosti reported on August 21, citing data from Georgia’s National Statistics Office.

Russian imports of Georgian potatoes had resumed on a regular basis in October 2024. Volumes peaked in April 2025 before gradually declining in subsequent months. July marked the first time since resumption that Georgia reported no potato exports to Russia.

Potato production has fallen across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) this year. Belarus is currently facing a potato crisis after output there plunged this season.

In late March, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko roasted his top officials at a televised Cabinet meeting for failing to contain soaring potato prices. He tried to halt the price rises by introducing fixed prices, but that just caused local farmers to export their potatoes to Russia, which is also facing a shortage and paying much higher prices, exacerbating the Belarusian crisis.

Belarusian potato prices have jumped by 10% over just the past two months, and an irate Lukashenko expressed his frustration at the authorities’ inability to maintain stable prices for staple goods.

Russia has also been experiencing localised shortages and price increases in the potato market in recent months. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev in June, the rising cost of potatoes is due to lower yields, he told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

That makes the halt in Georgian potato imports confusing, as it will only tighten supply further, particularly given that imports had peaked earlier in the year. Georgia had become a significant supplier after Russia sought to diversify agricultural imports amid ongoing trade restrictions with Western countries.

While Russian national-level shortages have not been officially declared, regional problems persist. Georgia had emerged as a notable supplier of potatoes to Russia in recent years.