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- I can't eat vegetables: the Federal Antimonopoly Service was asked to check the sharp rise in prices for cucumbers at retail
I can't eat vegetables: the Federal Antimonopoly Service was asked to check the sharp rise in prices for cucumbers at retail
The Federal Antimonopoly Service is being asked to intervene due to a sharp rise in prices for cucumbers: in two months, their retail value has increased 1.5 times. The initiative was initiated by State Duma deputies from United Russia. According to Rosstat, from December to February, this vegetable rose in price by 43%, and Rusprodsoyuz records a more significant increase — by 111%. At the same time, the wholesale price decreased by 3% during this period. The FAS reported on the verification of the pricing of vegetable producers. Experts believe that in order to stabilize the situation, it is necessary to increase the import of cucumbers.
Why cucumbers have risen sharply in price in Russia
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) is being asked to verify the validity of the sharp rise in prices for cucumbers. According to Rosstat, from the end of December to February 2, their cost increased by 43%, and in the week from February 3 to February 9 — by 5.2%. Anatoly Vyborny, deputy chairman of the State Duma Security Committee from United Russia, initiated the inspection.
— I receive appeals from citizens outraged by the sharp rise in prices for cucumbers. They do not understand why vegetables today are already more expensive than exotic fruits, the logistics and storage of which is clearly more expensive than that of Russian producers," the deputy said.
The State Duma believes that such pricing raises questions and requires clarification, in connection with which such an increase in value occurs and whether there are violations of antimonopoly legislation or unfair actions on the part of sellers. According to Anatoly Vyborny, it is important that people have the opportunity to buy familiar basic products at an adequate and reasonable cost, so he turned to the antimonopoly service, whose duties include monitoring pricing.
In one of the appeals to Anatoly Vyborny, which Izvestia has, Russians express their bewilderment that cucumbers have overtaken bananas, pineapples and other exotics that are imported from abroad.
"It just looks absurd. After all, bananas are brought from far away, and cucumbers are our native vegetable, which is very popular among the population and much easier to grow than tomatoes, whose prices have not increased so much (according to Rosstat, the increase from the end of December to February 2 was 20.7%. — Ed.). Although both species grow in greenhouses in winter," Galina Gusarova wrote to the deputy.
The association of producers and suppliers (Rusprodsoyuz) reported that, according to their data, the increase in the cost of cucumbers is even higher.
— Average retail prices for cucumbers by February amounted to 300.1 rubles per 1 kg, which is 111.1% more than three months ago. At the same time, the dynamics year—on-year is +1.8%. However, in wholesale, the average cost per year decreased and in December 2025 amounted to 178 thousand rubles per ton against 183.1 thousand per ton," Dmitry Leonov, deputy chairman of the board of the association, told Izvestia.
At the same time, he noted that the cost of cucumbers and tomatoes is characterized by significant seasonal volatility throughout the year.
— Usually the highest prices are observed in winter, with peaks in January and February of each year. Then, as the supply on the market increases, it becomes cheaper," the industry representative explained.
The FAS has sent requests to the largest producers of protected soil vegetables — companies belonging to the ROST, ECO-Culture, Gorkunov, Magnit, Greenhouses of the Regions and My Summer groups, the press service of the antimonopoly authority told Izvestia.
"The service is currently analyzing the incoming information," the FAS explained, noting that based on the results of the analysis of the submitted information, if there are grounds, the agency will take antitrust response measures.
Will measures be taken in connection with the rise in price of vegetables
The price situation in the vegetable market, primarily cucumbers and tomatoes, is characterized by pronounced seasonality, the Ministry of Agriculture told Izvestia.
— In winter, these products traditionally become more expensive due to the transition to greenhouse vegetables, which require high production costs. It should be noted that currently producer prices for almost all items are lower than they were a year ago. In particular, according to the Food Safety Monitoring System, the selling price of white cabbage decreased by 31.4% year—on—year, potatoes — by 19.8%, tomatoes - by 18.2%, onions - by 13%. Prices for cucumbers from producers remain approximately at the level of last year, the ministry's press service reported.
Also, according to the agency, vegetables have fallen in price in retail over the year. Thus, prices for cabbage have dropped by 24%, for potatoes and onions — by 16%, for beets — by 11.6%, the cost of tomatoes is at the level of last year.
"Starting in spring, as crops from greenhouses and then from the open ground enter the market, vegetables will traditionally become cheaper," the ministry is convinced.
At the same time, they recalled that by the end of 2025, Russia had a high harvest of vegetables, which, according to preliminary data, amounted to 7.6 million tons. As a result, Russia has come very close to the targets of the Food Security Doctrine for self-sufficiency in these products (89.6% with a threshold of 90%), the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized.
They also pointed out that greenhouse vegetable growing is actively developing in our country. Today, more than 340 farms with a total area of about 3.3 thousand hectares operate in 76 regions. By 2027, it is planned to implement over 30 projects in this area, the total capacity of which will exceed 157 thousand tons of products per year.
For the development of vegetable and potato growing, subsidies are provided per unit of production and planting area, reimbursement of part of the costs of construction and modernization of storage facilities, and other measures. 3.5 billion rubles have been allocated for these purposes in 2026, the ministry added.
When asked by Izvestia whether the Ministry of Agriculture plans to expand the import of cucumbers in order to lower the price, the ministry did not answer.
At the same time, a source in the industry told the editorial board that one of the possible reasons for the rise in price of this vegetable was the cancellation of benefits for greenhouses. The Ministry of Agriculture announced its return in early January after the cost increase began.
The Greenhouses of Russia association told Izvestia other reasons for the price increase, acknowledging that the topic of rising prices for cucumbers has become one of the most discussed in the consumer environment this year.
— Part of the increase in the price of cucumbers is due to their reduction in price at the end of 2025. After several years of steady growth, they unexpectedly fell in price by 18% year-on-year (December 2024 to December 2025). As a result, the price increase in January started at an unusually low December cost, which visually enhanced consumer perception," explained Tatiana Kulik, CEO of the association.
She also noted that producer prices for cucumbers and tomatoes are lower than a year ago. However, according to her, this season was influenced by a number of specific factors.
— Cucumbers are a light— and heat-loving crop. The share of energy resources (heating and additional lighting) in the cost structure is up to 45%. This winter of 2025-2026 turned out to be especially cold and snowy, cloudy, and in such weather these vegetables require artificial lighting for 18-20 hours a day, all this has greatly increased energy costs," she explained.
Although vegetables retain a preferential VAT rate of 10%, the increased tax burden has affected the entire price chain, from packaging to logistics. As a result, manufacturers were forced to include these additional costs in the selling prices of their products, explained Tatiana Kulik. Thus, although the tax on cucumbers itself has not increased, the way of the vegetable to the counter has become more expensive, she noted.
"The dynamics of prices for cucumbers and tomatoes in large retail chains is typical for the peak values of the winter season, but in annual terms, compared with the same period last year, the growth does not exceed the indicators of general inflation," the chairman of the Presidium of the Association of Retail Companies (ACORT, unites the 25 largest retail chains of the Russian Federation) told Izvestia Stanislav Bogdanov.
At the same time, according to him, the minimum cost in retail chains actually remained at last year's level: cucumbers from 299.99 rubles per 1 kg, tomatoes — from 197 rubles.
— The assortment of cucumbers, depending on the store's format, includes from four to 25 different varieties and types, tomatoes — from 10 to 39 items, which allows customers to choose from different segments. As daylight increases, the costs of greenhouses for lighting and then heating the greenhouses will gradually decrease, and with them there will be a correction in prices for these vegetables," the business representative explained.
According to experts, one of the reasons for the increase in cost may be the high demand for cucumbers, the import of which to Russia, unlike tomatoes, is not so high.
— Indeed, greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes are on equal terms in winter. The reason for the rise in price of the first vegetable is related to its high popularity and the creation of a shortage," Georgy Ostapkovich, scientific director of the HSE Center for Market Research, told Izvestia.
In his opinion, if Russia had bought more cucumbers by import, rather than growing them in harsh greenhouse conditions in terms of high costs, this would have increased supply and stabilized the price.
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