Until the end of February, Ukrainians should not expect high prices for vegetables for borsch set. Denys Marchuk, the UAC Deputy Chairman, announced this on TV-channel “UA: Pershyi”.

"At the end of 2020, we had the lowest prices for vegetables in recent years. Comparing the prices for such products in December last year, they are 30% lower than at the same period in 2019. But it should be noted that in winter the prices for such vegetables are partially set up. Today we see a small increase in prices by 2-5% depending on the product category," the expert explained.

In addition the expert says besides the seasonal factor, prices are affected by the lack of the required number of vegetable stores.

"This is a major problem. Today, farmers do not invest in the vegetable stores building because they cannot take loans. Because in our country the rates are too high. If, for example, we compare with European countries, where loans are issued at 2-3 %, then in Ukraine at 16% and higher," Denys Marchuk said.

The expert emphasizes that until a mechanism of state support for small and medium-sized vegetable businesses will not be developed, Ukrainians will see constant vegetable prices fluctuations according to the seasonal factors.

Despite the fact that by the end of February the vegetables of the borscht set will not increase significantly, Denys Marchuk says that today we have enough factors, which can affect the greenhouse vegetables price. In particular, the recent rise of energy prices and the increase of the minimum wage in March will affect the growth of prices for greenhouse cucumbers, tomatoes and so on.