On behalf of the Prime Minister, the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade and Integration are constantly monitoring the situation on the country's potato market.
Due to increased demand from neighboring countries, especially Uzbekistan, and high export prices, potato exports have increased 1.5 times this year, from 411,000 tons to 605,000 tons. It is noted that the high demand has had an impact on the domestic market. So, over the past week, there has been a sharp increase in prices among export-oriented producers (from 170 to 270 tenge).
In this regard, in order to stabilize potato prices in the domestic market, at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Trade held on January 18, 2025, it was decided to limit the export of potatoes to third countries for a period of 6 months. This measure does not apply to the EAEU countries, but exports in this direction will be monitored.However, taking into account the current situation, on January 16 this year, the issuance of phytosanitary certificates for export was completely suspended.
The measures taken are aimed at ensuring the stability of potato prices, preventing unjustified price increases and prohibiting speculative actions on the part of market participants.
In addition, the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Trade and Integration, together with the territorial divisions of the antimonopoly authority, are intensively monitoring the situation and, in case of violation of the current legislation on trade, they will take immediate measures to influence market participants.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, today the available reserves are sufficient to fully cover the domestic demand until the early harvest of 2025. Stocks, as of January 19, amount to over 850 thousand tons, excluding stocks in retail chains (600 thousand tons at the potato growers association, 68 thousand tons in stabilization funds, over 200 thousand tons in cellars in private farms and small farms).

For reference: The gross potato harvest in 2024 amounted to 2.9 million tons (including an early harvest of 300 thousand tons). Imports in 2024 amounted to 56 thousand tons.
The volume of potatoes for distribution to the market from August 2024 is 2.6 million tons, while the needs of the entire population are -1.5 million tons (including 954,000 urban tons) before the early harvest (January-April). From August to December 2024, 844 thousand tons were consumed, 620 thousand tons were exported (from January to December 2024). The projected volume of consumption for 2025 (January-April) is 675 thousand tons.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/moa/press/news/details/920462