Politico: Lukashenko's Potato Racket Has Angered Regime Opponents

Price controls have had the opposite effect.

The spring potato shortage in Belarus and the related reaction of Alexander Lukashenko continue to be discussed not only by the Belarusian, but also by the Western media. The problem was also paid attention to by Politico, which published an article with the title "Lukashenko's potato racketeering has angered the opponents of the regime."

"Price control, established by the ruler of Belarus, has had the opposite effect," reads the article.

The authors emphasize that the reason for the recent acute shortage of potatoes in Belarus was Alexander Lukashenko's "harsh intervention" in the economy: since 2022, the country has strict restrictions on the growth of prices for basic foodstuffs, including potatoes. These measures were conceived as a way to curb inflation, but in practice made potato cultivation economically unprofitable for farmers.

"If you are familiar with the history of the Soviet Union, you know - when people are not motivated, it is almost impossible to make them work well," explained to the publication the scientific director of the Belarusian analytical center BEROC Lev Lvovsky.

Prices for potatoes in Belarus grew too slowly and did not cover the growing costs of farmers, so many reduced crops or refused to grow the crop. In 2024, the harvest fell from more than 4 million tons to 3.1 million tons, and because of favorable prices in Russia, farmers sold potatoes there en masse, making Belarus the main supplier on the Russian market.

At the end of the year, the authorities introduced a ban on exports without a license, but farmers circumvented it by labeling normal potatoes as rotten, which led to shortages and deterioration of product quality on the shelves, especially noticeable in the spring of 2025. To remedy the situation, they raised maximum prices in April, allowed imports from the EU in May, and strengthened control over stores through a hotline for customer complaints.

Lukashenko said the shortage was artificially created to discredit the system of state price regulation and the government in general. However, his opponents have other considerations.

"This shows how Lukashenko and his administration can artificially create shortages of goods that used to be in abundance," commented economist Ales Alekhnovich.

In the meantime, in May, MART opened a hotline to which one can complain about stores that do not sell potatoes or set the price too high.

"Part of the strategy is just intimidating retail chains in the hope that they will get potatoes out of thin air for fear of jail," Lvovsky ironizes.

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