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- A stumbling block: farmers complain about restrictions on retailers' purchases of domestic vegetables
A stumbling block: farmers complain about restrictions on retailers' purchases of domestic vegetables
Retail chains have reduced purchases of domestic vegetables and prefer young imported products, despite the overcrowded warehouses of Russian producers, according to agrarians of the Novgorod and Vladimir regions. According to them, since March–April X5, Magnit and Lenta have practically switched to selling fresh crops from Egypt, Azerbaijan, China and other countries. The industry believes that this has a negative impact on business, while retailers themselves claim that the volume of purchases has not decreased. The Ministry of Agriculture reported that in 2026 there is a downward trend in potato supplies from abroad, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade added: the share of Russian products in the segment of potatoes and vegetables of the "borscht set" retains a dominant position in retail chains. How the situation with purchases of domestic vegetables will develop is in the Izvestia article.
Why can't Russian vegetables get on the shelves?
Representatives of several farming associations from the Novgorod and Vladimir regions sent an appeal to Vladimir Plotnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma on Agrarian Issues, head of the Association of Peasant (Farmer) Farms and Agricultural Cooperatives of the Russian Federation (AKKOR), with a request to intervene in the situation with a reduction in purchases of their products from large retailers.
In the documents that Izvestia has, they report that from March to April, the X5, Lenta and Magnit retail chains have restricted their purchase of potatoes and other vegetables and have practically switched to the fresh harvest of 2026 from Egypt, Azerbaijan, China, etc. At the same time, as emphasized in the appeal, there are enough of their own products in the warehouses and storages of domestic agricultural producers.
"The inability of farmers to fully sell their products and government support leads to their high debt burden and bankruptcy, and subsequently to a decrease in food security, as farmers produce more than 50% of vegetables," the Novgorod association of agrarians "Veche" reports in its appeal.
A similar situation is noted by the association of agricultural producers from the Vladimir region "Village Revival". In their letter, they note that due to the appearance of a large number of imports and a decrease in purchases of domestic products from retailers, the prices of potatoes they produce have collapsed by 30-40%, to a level below cost. But even with them, it is not possible to sell this product, although they are significantly less than the cost of imported products.
"When planning purchases, the networks do not take into account statistical data and federal state systems, which clearly show that the harvest of potatoes grown in the country is sufficient for domestic consumption," they note in their appeal.
According to them, as early as May, this situation will lead to the forced disposal of a large number of potatoes, losses and a reduction in planting areas.
In the documents, farmers note that a similar situation is developing in other regions of Russia.
Problems with the sale of domestic vegetables in large retail chains were confirmed to Izvestia by the Potato Union.
— Indeed, there is such a problem. Unfortunately, in recent years, retail chains have adopted the practice of switching to the supply of early-harvest potatoes from Egypt, China and other countries in the spring. At some meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which took place in 2026, we raised this issue, suggesting limiting such practices for retail, since in fact the Russian shelf for our potato growers is significantly narrowing," Alexey Krasilnikov, executive director of the union, told Izvestia.
He drew attention to the fact that domestic potatoes are two to three times cheaper than imported ones. According to him, according to Rosstat data on April 1, the remains of this vegetable amount to more than 1.3 million tons, which is almost 150% more than a year earlier. From April 21 to April 27, potatoes rose in price by 22.2%. At the same time, the cost of carrots increased by 36.2%, cabbage — by 23.6%, tomatoes — by about 40%, according to statistics.
How do the authorities and business assess the situation?
In 2026, Magnit did not reduce the volume of potato purchases from Russian producers: it occupies a dominant share in the network's sales — about 90%, the company's press service told Izvestia.
— At the same time, since the beginning of the year, we have observed an even more moderate level of imports of this vegetable from other countries compared to the peak values of 2025. The situation is similar with the import component in sales of other vegetables. For example, in April, the share of sales of domestic beets and carrots in physical terms approached 90% of total sales, while cabbage exceeds this figure, the company told Izvestia.
They also noted that Magnit expects to spend the entire next season mainly on domestic supplies. The company is actively developing cooperation with Russian farmers, including in the format of agro-contracts, advancing agricultural producers for future crops and guaranteeing the purchase of grown products.
Izvestia also sent a request to X5 and Lenta.
— We have received an appeal from AKKOR regarding the interaction of retail chains with farms and agricultural consumer cooperatives regarding potato purchases. We are carefully analyzing the issues raised in the appeal," the chairman of the Association of Omnichannel Retail Companies (ACORT) told Izvestia Stanislav Bogdanov.
According to him, today the main assortment of potatoes in large retail chains is still made up of products from Russian manufacturers. The share of imported products has decreased significantly compared to last year and is now estimated at no more than 15-18% of the total supply, imports come mainly from Egypt, Belarus and Azerbaijan.
— The share of domestic potatoes in sales is even higher. In general, the bulk of the supply of borscht vegetables to large chains is provided by domestic producers. Up to 20 potato product lines are currently represented in retail chains, which provides customers with a wide range of choices in different price segments. The development of cooperation with domestic potato producers and the expansion of direct purchases from farmers is a priority area of work for large retailers. The networks actively use the practice of agro—contracts and purchases through agricultural aggregators and agricultural consumer cooperatives," Stanislav Bogdanov said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia that they are closely monitoring such signals from producers and suppliers of food products, paying close attention to vegetable products. At the end of April, at the request of the Potato Union, the agency discussed this issue with the largest retailers, they added.
— According to information received from retail chains, today the share of Russian products in the total assortment of potatoes and vegetables of the "borscht set" remains dominant. Companies constantly interact with domestic agricultural producers and expect to spend the season on domestic supplies as much as possible, taking into account the availability of offers from producers in the country, the ministry explained.
The Ministry of Agriculture informed Izvestia that in 2026 there is a downward trend in potato supplies from abroad. So, since the beginning of the year, imports of these products have amounted to about 216 thousand tons, which is 20% lower than the same period in 2025, the press service of the department noted.
They added that last year the law on agricultural aggregators came into force, which help small producers to supply their goods to retail chains. In addition, a new mechanism has been introduced to support such agricultural cooperatives. This includes reimbursement of part of the cost of purchasing farm products, subsidies for the creation of logistics infrastructure, the purchase of equipment and specialized vehicles, as well as preferential loans for the storage, collection, processing and sale of products.
The Ministry of Agriculture recalled that by the end of 2025, Russia had a high harvest of vegetables and potatoes — 7.6 million tons and 8.5 million tons, respectively. As a result, our country has come very close to the targets of the Food Security Doctrine for self-sufficiency in vegetables (89.6% with a threshold value of 90%) and reached the threshold value for potatoes (97.9% with a threshold value of 95%).
— The practice of large retailers rejecting domestic vegetables exists, and there are technological reasons for this. After all, it is important for trading that a number of conditions are met in terms of quality, presentation, and volume. It is important that the potatoes are perfect for the buyer, which our producers do not always have," Leonid Kholod, ex—Deputy Minister of Agriculture, told Izvestia.
At the same time, in his opinion, it is impractical to punish retail, since this is a market relationship, and the seller himself determines which product to sell. Instead, he believes, it is necessary to create conditions and infrastructure for Russian farmers, in particular, to develop capacities for processing, sorting and calibrating vegetables so that their products can compete more effectively with imported ones.
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