In the shadow of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a quiet but significant form of economic exploitation is unfolding in the occupied territories. While the world focuses on missiles and military offensives, Russia has opened another front in its war-a campaign of economic looting, with Ukrainian grain at its center. Recent revelations suggest this effort may not be entirely domestic. According to an investigation led by Slidstvo.Info in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a company affiliated with Danish inspection giant Baltic Control has been actively involved in certifying and inspecting grain exports from occupied Ukrainian ports.

This involvement raises serious ethical and legal concerns, particularly because the export of goods from occupied territories constitutes a violation of international law. The Hague Regulations of 1907, which form the basis of modern international humanitarian law, clearly prohibit occupying powers from exploiting the resources of occupied lands for their own gain. If the allegations are substantiated, Baltic Control and its affiliates may be complicit in what Ukraine considers a war crime-pillage.

Russia’s occupation of parts of southern Ukraine has not only allowed its military to entrench itself along the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coastlines, but also provided it with key commercial ports previously used for legitimate Ukrainian exports. Chief among these are the ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk, which have been repurposed under Russian control to facilitate the shipment of grain and other agricultural products-assets that Ukraine claims have been looted.

In 2022, President Vladimir Putin declared, with evident satisfaction, that “the Sea of Azov has become an internal sea of the Russian Federation.” This seemingly symbolic assertion marked a very tangible shift in regional power dynamics. For Russia, the ports at Mariupol and Berdiansk are more than trophies; they are tools of economic extraction. Grain, harvested in occupied Ukrainian territories, is now being transported out of these ports, aiding the Russian economy while depriving Ukraine of one of its most vital exports.

Baltic Control, headquartered in Denmark and acquired in 2023 by French multinational Apave Group, is a global leader in the inspection, certification, and testing of cargo shipments. It operates in over 50 countries and plays a critical role in ensuring cargo integrity for global trade. According to Baltic Control’s own reports from 2021 and 2022, it once held a 49 percent stake in a Russian company operating under the name Baltic Control Novorossiysk.

While the company no longer lists this Russian entity on its official website and has scrubbed mentions of it since early 2023, records and archived web pages tell a different story. As recently as October 2022-months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine-Baltic Control still listed an office in Novorossiysk, Russia. Furthermore, the email contact associated with that office (balticcontrol.ops@gmail.com) is the same one now listed on the Russian Baltic Control Novorossiysk website.

Corporate records in Russia indicate that Baltic Control Novorossiysk is owned entirely by Alexander Shalimov, a Russian businessman who has long-standing ties to Hugo Pedersen, the Danish founder of Baltic Control. Between 2009 and 2023, Shalimov and Pedersen co-owned another identically named company based in Yeysk, Russia-raising further questions about the nature and continuity of their business relationship.

The most compelling evidence tying Baltic Control to grain shipments from occupied Ukraine comes from a trove of letters obtained by Ukrainian hacktivist group KibOrg. Dated between March 2024 and May 2025, these letters detail grain shipments organized by a Russian agricultural company based in occupied Crimea and sent to Kristall-2019, a company operating in Berdiansk.

Nine ships are mentioned, including the Nadezhda, Sofia, and Leonid Pestrikov—several of which have been sanctioned by the United States or flagged by Ukraine’s military intelligence for participation in the theft of Ukrainian grain. While their destinations remain obscured-thanks to disabled AIS (Automatic Identification Systems), a tactic often used to hide illicit maritime activity-Ukrainian authorities believe the grain is being shipped to ports in Turkey and Bangladesh.

Each letter explicitly states that the grain must be inspected and certified by “the independent surveying company Baltic Control.” Supporting documents, including invoices and tax records, link these inspections directly to Baltic Control Novorossiysk, listing Alexander Shalimov as the company’s director.

When approached for comment, Baltic Control, Apave Group, and Hugo Pedersen all declined to respond. Shalimov initially confirmed his company’s operations in Berdiansk in a phone conversation with a reporter posing as a grain exporter. “We are the only ones [working] in Berdiansk,” he said, claiming his company provided full-quality oversight throughout the loading process.

However, in a later conversation with investigative reporters, Shalimov denied any involvement, instructed journalists to “call Ukraine,” and abruptly ended the call. This contradictory behavior only deepens suspicions about the company’s real role in the operations at Berdiansk.

Further muddying the waters is the opaque nature of the company’s ownership and affiliations. While official Russian records show no foreign ownership, Baltic Control’s own reports previously listed Baltic Control Novorossiysk as a related company. The similarity in branding, websites, and personnel connections suggests a more-than-incidental affiliation-one that Baltic Control appears eager to distance itself from since the full-scale invasion began.

The Ukrainian government has been consistent in its classification of Russia’s grain exports from occupied territories as pillage. According to Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert with the Regional Center for Human Rights in Ukraine, private companies involved in such trade could be held accountable under international law.

“Occupying powers have no right to export resources from occupied territory,” Rashevska said. “Private actors also have a responsibility to avoid harm and not engage in activities that support the occupation and/or human rights violations.”

If Western companies or their affiliates are found to be profiting from the trade of stolen Ukrainian grain, the consequences could extend beyond reputational damage. Legal action in international courts, sanctions, and criminal charges could follow, particularly if sufficient evidence emerges to demonstrate corporate complicity.

This incident reflects a broader challenge in enforcing international norms during modern conflicts. Global corporations often operate through a maze of affiliates, subsidiaries, and franchise-like partnerships that enable plausible deniability. As war economies grow increasingly complex and intertwined with global trade networks, identifying and prosecuting economic war crimes becomes all the more difficult.

Yet, the Baltic Control case underscores the urgent need for better corporate accountability frameworks. In times of war, neutrality is not always a shield. When private entities enable or profit from the exploitation of occupied populations and their resources, their actions may move from business as usual to participation in international crimes.

As the war in Ukraine drags on into its third year, attention to battlefield developments must not eclipse the quiet devastation wrought by economic exploitation. The export of Ukrainian grain from occupied ports like Berdiansk may appear technical and bureaucratic-just paperwork, inspections, and shipments-but the implications are grave. They strike at the heart of sovereignty, law, and justice.

If a Danish-affiliated company has, even indirectly, supported Russia’s looting of Ukrainian resources, it must be investigated thoroughly and held to account. Otherwise, the message is clear: the spoils of war can still be quietly legitimized-so long as the paperwork checks out.

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Source: Weekly Blitz :: Writings