National Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (NTRK)

The National Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation is Kyrgyzstan’s national state broadcaster. It traces its institutional history to Kyrgyz Radio, officially launched on 20 January 1931, while television broadcasting began on 8 December 1958. Law No. 33 of 30 April 2022, in force from 13 May, replaced the Public Broadcasting Corporation framework with UTRK, giving it the special status of a state institution.

Media assets

Television: National First Channel, Ala-Too 24, Madaniyat, Sport, Music and Balastan

Radio: Birinchi Radio, Kyrgyz Radiosu and Min Kyal FM

Regional broadcasting: UTRK Batken, UTRK Jalal-Abad, UTRK Issyk-Kul, UTRK Naryn, UTRK Osh, UTRK Talas and UTRK Chui

Production and transmission: the Republican Radio and Television Centre, merged into UTRK in 2022, and the Dooronbek Sadyrbaev Kyrgyztelefilm Studio

Ownership and governance

UTRK was constituted under law No. 33 of 30 April 2022, which took effect on 13 May 2022. The law defines UTRK as a state institution with special statutory status, and its property is state-owned. The government subsequently merged the former Public Broadcasting Corporation and the Republican Radio and Television Centre into the new institution, and regional television and radio companies were brought into the UTRK structure.

UTRK has no independent supervisory board comparable to that of the former Public Broadcasting Corporation. Under the 2022 law, the General Director, appointed and dismissed by the President, heads the corporation. A nine-member internal collegium serves as an advisory body; it is chaired by the General Director and its remaining members are drawn from UTRK staff and appointed by him. The corporation currently also has three deputy general directors: Almazbek Kasymaliev for information, Syuita Sourbaeva for content and Iskender Kasymov for technical matters.

President Sadyr Japarov dismissed Bolotbek Tillebayev and appointed Ulanbek Alimbaevich Satiev as General Director on 21 October 2025.

The change of status removed a materially different governance arrangement. Under the 2011 public broadcasting legislation the General Director was elected by and accountable to a supervisory board. That law ceased to have effect on 13 May 2022.

The organisation’s legal status has changed repeatedly. It was transformed into the State Television and Radio Company in January 2006 and restored as the National Television and Radio Corporation in March 2007. Following the 2010 political transition it became the Public Broadcasting Corporation, a status formalised by the 2011 public broadcasting law, before returning to national state broadcaster status in 2022.

Source of funding and budget

UTRK is financed predominantly from the republican budget, supplemented by commercial and other permitted income.

Kyrgyzstan’s approved 2026 budget provides KGS 1.1514 billion in expenditure for the central corporation, including more than KGS 1.07 billion in budget appropriations, and a further KGS 132.7 million for the regional television and radio companies under UTRK. The 2022 law also permits revenue from advertising, sponsorship, grants, commercial services, copyright and other lawful sources.

The law requires UTRK to undergo an annual mandatory audit by the Chamber of Accounts, and in December 2025 the Chamber reported completing an audit covering 2022 to 2024. State Media Monitor did not identify a current full financial statement establishing the consolidated split between budget funding and all commercial and own-source income.

Editorial independence

The 2022 law formally guarantees UTRK’s freedom to seek, produce and distribute information, provides that broadcast output should be produced independently and prohibits censorship. It also sets editorial standards including pluralism, accuracy, reliability, balance, completeness and separation of fact from commentary.

These formal safeguards are not, however, backed by an independent governance structure. The same reform abolished the former public broadcaster’s supervisory board model and placed appointment and dismissal of the General Director directly with the President. The law also defines the corporation’s statutory sphere partly in terms of implementing state policy in producing national media content, so formal editorial guarantees coexist with a statutory state policy role.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published UTRK policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure. UTRK has nevertheless documented institutional engagement with AI: in March 2025 its Media Communications Training Centre ran a three-day course for staff on artificial intelligence and its use in television and radio, including journalism-focused applications and media production. State Media Monitor could not establish how extensively AI has subsequently been integrated into routine production.

Kyrgyzstan’s Digital Code of 31 July 2025, in force from February 2026, establishes statutory rules for artificial intelligence. Article 197 requires disclosure when consumers interact with AI systems, unless the use is obvious, and requires users of AI systems producing deepfakes to disclose the artificial origin or alteration of the material, subject to defined exceptions. State Media Monitor did not identify a separate broadcasting-specific rule requiring disclosure of every item produced with AI.

Classification rationale

UTRK remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and directly state-governed. UTRK has the special legal status of a state institution and its property is state-owned. The 2022 law replaced the former public broadcasting governance structure with a system in which the General Director is appointed and dismissed by the President. A nine-member internal collegium exists as an advisory body, but it is chaired by the General Director and composed of executives and other UTRK staff appointed by him; it does not replace the former independent supervisory board.

It is predominantly state-funded. The approved 2026 budget provides KGS 1.1514 billion in expenditure for UTRK, including more than KGS 1.07 billion from republican budget appropriations, plus KGS 132.7 million for its regional television and radio companies. The law permits advertising, sponsorship and other own-source income, but State Media Monitor could not establish the current consolidated proportion represented by these commercial sources.

Its governance leaves editorial autonomy structurally exposed to state control. The 2022 law formally guarantees editorial freedom, prohibits censorship and establishes standards of pluralism, accuracy and balance. At the same time, the law gives appointment and dismissal of the General Director directly to the President, provides no independent supervisory body, and defines the corporation’s remit partly in terms of state information policy. Reporters Without Borders describes Kyrgyzstan’s government as controlling the country’s traditional media.

September 2026