THE BND FILE – SHIPPING COMPANIES AND THE ARMS BUSINESS
An investigation into the German intelligence agency's involvement in arms exports to war zones around the world.
Tanks to Sudan, weapons to Myanmar or Yemen… Secret documents leaked to our film team after years of research prove that the German intelligence agency BND is heavily involved in arms exports to crisis and war zones around the world. The top secret missions are carried out so that they dodge the responsible authorities, and bypasss the War Weapons Control Act and international embargoes. Arms are shipped from a secret port in Ukraine which is not recorded on any map. American satellite images show the port where heavy-lift carriers load tanks, howitzers and other war equipment. Ships from at least two German shipping companies are involved. But the shipping companies are not acting on their own account. Emails from the secret documents show they are in constant contact with the BND, sometimes even operating at its suggestion. We talk to Niels Stolberg, former head of the Beluga shipping company, Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine from 2005-2010, and Mykola Malomuth, his former head of the foreign intelligence agency. Malomuth offers our team, the first camera team ever, exclusive access to the port of Oktyabrsk in Ukraine.