Oral Residents Buying Potatoes En Masse

The price gap between subsidized and market potatoes is causing mass purchases in West Kazakhstan, reports Orda.kz, citing Uralskaya Nedelya.

The region's stabilization fund supplies retail chains with 10-15 tons of potatoes daily at 126-138 tenge per kilogram, while Bazar prices have reached 300-350 tenge, reaching up to 550 tenge in some places.

Despite growing demand from supermarkets for increased supplies, fund officials responded as such:

We won't be able to ship more — then our supplies won't last until the end of the off-season,  representatives said.

Local authorities point to multiple factors behind the price surge, including poor harvest yields and the halt of Russian imports due to similar crop failures.

Quality concerns have emerged, with residents reporting undersized and damaged potatoes from the stabilization fund.

There are no large potatoes from any of the suppliers because the year was a poor harvest. And there are cut potatoes because they are cut by machinery during harvesting. We have tightened control over deliveries, explained Oraz Zhumabaev, head of the West Kazakhstan region stabilization fund department.

According to supply agreements, potatoes must meet GOST standards: they must be at least three centimeters in size, clean, dry, and undamaged.

Today, the stabilization fund has a potato reserve of 3.5 thousand tons. This volume will last us until May 2025. We also have a reserve of 500 tons for the summer period. We ship 10-15 tons of potatoes to retail chains every day at an affordable price, said Zhumabayev.

Officials seek solutions to prevent speculation while ensuring access for those in need.

We only hope for the awareness of the people themselves and will look for mechanisms to make social potatoes available to low-income families,  added the head of the stabilization fund department.

Potato prices have jumped significantly in recent weeks.

Original Author: Raushan Korzhumbekova