Belteleradiocompany (BTRC)
Belarus · Quick Facts SC All conditions met 8 · 5 · 5 TV channels, radio services, regional companies 2021 EBU suspension, unchanged since 165/180 RSF 2026 · 27.72 ▲ from 166th Origins Radio first went on air on 15 November 1925 from station RV-10, named after the Council of People’s Commissars of the Byelorussian SSR, for thirty minutes a day within about 300 kilometres. Television followed on 1 January 1956 Services Belarus 1 to 5, Belarus 24, NTV Belarus and First News Channel from September 2024, plus Belarus 5 Internet online; First National Channel, Radio Belarus, Culture, Stalitsa and Radius FM on radio Regional network Five regional television and radio companies — Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev — provide the regional services distributed under the Belarus 4 brand Legal position A central state institution subordinate and accountable to the President under Presidential Decree No. 174 of 24 April 2003, which also gives the President the power to appoint and dismiss its chairman. Ivan Eismont was appointed on 6 February 2018 and remains in post Funding Appropriations in the republican budget approved by the National Assembly, alongside non-budget revenue whose share the chairman declined to disclose as commercially confidential. No 2026 appropriation, accounts or revenue breakdown was identified Formal safeguards Articles 4 to 7 of Law No. 427-Z of 17 July 2008 list diversity of opinion and free expression among the governing principles and prohibit censorship, demands for prior approval, interference in editorial autonomy and coercion of journalists EBU Suspended in 2021 on grounds of suppression of media freedom, government interference and broadcasts of interviews apparently obtained under duress. In April 2024 the EBU said it had no reason to change its positionSources: Presidential Decree No. 174 of 24 April 2003; BTRC institutional and regional pages; Law on Mass Media No. 427-Z of 2008; European Broadcasting Union, 2021 and April 2024; SMM interviews, 2023 and 2024; Reporters Without Borders 2026. Classification per the State Media Matrix.
Typology trajectory — Belteleradiocompany
Belarus · 2022–2026 2022 SC 2023 SC 2024 SC 2025 SC 2026 SC The classification is unchanged. The asset list now includes the five regional television and radio companies and the online service, and the statutory and governing instruments are identified. Subordination to the presidency BTRC is a central state institution subordinate and accountable to the President of the Republic of Belarus under Presidential Decree No. 174 of 24 April 2003. The same instrument gives the President the power to appoint and dismiss its chairman. Ivan Eismont was appointed on 6 February 2018 and remained listed in the position in September 2026. State Media Monitor identified no independent supervisory board, protected appointment procedure or external oversight mechanism separating the company from presidential control. Formal safeguards Articles 4 to 7 of the Law on Mass Media, Law No. 427-Z of 17 July 2008, list diversity of opinion and free expression among the principles governing the media, and prohibit censorship, demands for prior approval, interference in the professional autonomy of an editorial entity and coercion of journalists to publish or withhold information. What they do not reach The company is subordinate and accountable to the President, who appoints and dismisses its chairman, and no independent governance or enforcement mechanism can apply the statutory protections against the state owner. BTRC’s own institutional description states that Belarus 3 and Belarus 5 participate in implementing state information policy. Governance Presidential subordination Editorial State information policy Funding Mix undisclosed The European Broadcasting Union suspended BTRC in 2021, citing suppression of media freedom, government interference and broadcasts of interviews apparently obtained under duress. In April 2024 the EBU said it had no reason to change its position, leaving BTRC outside active membership. Belarus ranked 165th of 180 in the 2026 RSF Index with 27.72 points, an improvement of one position and 1.99 points, with RSF describing BTRC as disseminating regime propaganda while independent media operate from abroad.Sources: Presidential Decree No. 174 of 2003; Law on Mass Media No. 427-Z of 2008; BTRC institutional materials; European Broadcasting Union, 2021 and April 2024; Reporters Without Borders 2026. SC = State-Controlled Media, per the State Media Matrix.
The National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus, commonly known as Belteleradiocompany or BTRC, is the country’s state television and radio broadcaster. Belarusian radio first went on air on 15 November 1925 from station RV-10, named after the Council of People’s Commissars of the Byelorussian SSR, broadcasting for thirty minutes a day within a radius of approximately 300 kilometres. Television followed on 1 January 1956.
Media assets
Television: Belarus 1, Belarus 2, Belarus 3, Belarus 4, Belarus 5, Belarus 24, NTV Belarus and First News Channel
Online television: Belarus 5 Internet
Radio: First National Channel, Radio Belarus, Culture, Stalitsa and Radius FM
Regional television and radio companies: Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev
Belarus 1 carries news and current affairs; Belarus 2 entertainment and sport; Belarus 3 cultural programming largely in Belarusian; Belarus 5 sport; Belarus 24 is the international service; and NTV Belarus is a local version of Russia’s NTV. First News Channel began broadcasting in September 2024. Radio Belarus is the multilingual international service. The five regional companies provide the regional services distributed under the Belarus 4 brand.
Ownership and governance
BTRC is a central state institution subordinate and accountable to the President of the Republic of Belarus under Presidential Decree No. 174 of 24 April 2003. The President appoints and dismisses its chairman.
Ivan Eismont was appointed Chairman on 6 February 2018 and remained listed in that position in September 2026.
Source of funding and budget
BTRC receives financing through appropriations in the republican budget approved by the National Assembly and also earns non-budget revenue.
The published record gives state financing of BYN 123.9 million in 2020, described as the country’s largest media subsidy that year. This figure should be accompanied by its underlying budget or official government source before publication.
In a 2020 interview, Chairman Ivan Eismont acknowledged that BTRC earned its own revenue but declined to disclose its share of total financing, describing that information as commercially confidential.
Editorial independence
BTRC operates under direct presidential control, and Belarusian journalists and policy analysts interviewed by State Media Monitor in 2023 and 2024 described its editorial direction as controlled through the presidency. BTRC’s own institutional description states that Belarus 3 and Belarus 5 participate in implementing state information policy, providing direct evidence of the system’s governmental editorial remit.
Formal statutory safeguards exist. Articles 4 to 7 of Belarus’s Law on Mass Media, Law No. 427-Z of 17 July 2008, list diversity of opinion and free expression among the principles governing the media and prohibit censorship, demands for prior approval, interference in the professional autonomy of an editorial entity and coercion of journalists to publish or withhold information.
Those provisions do not create structural independence at BTRC. The company is subordinate and accountable to the President, who appoints and dismisses its chairman, and State Media Monitor identified no independent governance or enforcement mechanism capable of applying the statutory protections against the state owner.
In 2021 the European Broadcasting Union suspended BTRC, citing suppression of media freedom, government interference and broadcasts of interviews apparently obtained under duress. In April 2024 the EBU said it had no reason to change its position, leaving BTRC outside active EBU membership.
AI and digital policy
State Media Monitor could not identify a published BTRC policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure, and could not establish the extent of adoption in production.
State Media Monitor did not establish whether Belarus has adopted a statutory framework requiring disclosure of AI-generated content in broadcasting.
Classification rationale
BTRC remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).
It is state-owned and directly presidentially governed. The company is a central state institution subordinate and accountable to the President under Presidential Decree No. 174 of 24 April 2003, and the President appoints and dismisses its chairman. No independent supervisory board, protected appointment procedure or external oversight mechanism was identified.
It is state-funded. BTRC receives appropriations in the republican budget approved by the National Assembly. It also earns non-budget revenue, the share of which its chairman has declined to disclose. No 2026 appropriation, accounts or revenue breakdown was identified.
Its editorial agenda is directed by the state. BTRC is institutionally subordinate to the President, its own materials describe channels as implementing state information policy, and interview evidence describes presidential control of editorial direction. The EBU suspended the company after citing government interference and serious concerns about its broadcasts. Although Articles 4 to 7 of the Law on Mass Media contain formal protections for expression and editorial autonomy, they are not supported by independent governance or enforcement.
September 2026