All-National Television (Obshchenatsionalnoye Televideniye, ONT)

ONT, Obshchenatsionalnoye Televideniye or All-National Television, is Belarus’s second national television channel, constituted as a closed joint-stock company created by Presidential Decree No. 101 of 15 February 2002. It began broadcasting on 25 June 2002 on the frequency previously used by Russia’s ORT, now Channel One, and continues to carry Channel One programming under exclusive licence alongside its own news and documentary output. The company operates as a media holding with television, radio and online services.

Media assets

Television: ONT

Radio: Center FM

Online: ONT.BY, registered as an online publication on 6 February 2024

The channel’s first in-house programme, the news bulletin Nashi Novosti, aired on its opening day, 25 June 2002. The official website of the President of Belarus identifies Center FM as part of the company.

Ownership and governance

ONT is a closed joint-stock company created by Presidential Decree No. 101 of 15 February 2002. The official website of the President of Belarus describes it as a state-owned media outlet.

Published accounts of its precise shareholding conflict. The Ministry of Information, the state-owned Belarusbank and Information Technology Factory LLC have been identified as shareholders, but State Media Monitor could not obtain a current shareholder register or charter establishing their respective holdings or the ownership of Information Technology Factory LLC. This profile therefore does not publish a percentage breakdown.

The absence of a verified current breakdown does not alter the governance finding. ONT operates under decisive state and presidential control. On 13 June 2024 President Alexander Lukashenko authorised the appointment of Igor Lutsky as Chairman of the Management Board, after which the general meeting of shareholders was to formalise the appointment. The company’s highest executive appointment is therefore subject to presidential approval rather than to an independent corporate process.

Lutsky is a longstanding state official and media executive. Born on 31 October 1972 in Stolin, Brest region, he graduated from Belarusian State University and the Academy of Public Administration under the President, held state administrative posts from 1995 including deputy director general of the Belarusian Telegraph Agency and director of Novoye Radio, and led the television channel STV from 2018 to 2020. He also presents ONT’s weekly political programme Kontury.

Source of funding and budget

ONT receives state financing and earns commercial revenue.

Documented state support includes a joint allocation of BYN 1.1124 million to ONT and STV in 2022 and approximately BYN 4.66 million for ONT in 2023. The company also openly sells advertising across its television, radio and digital services.

Belarusian journalists and industry figures interviewed by State Media Monitor in May 2024 described state financing as ONT’s principal source and advertising as secondary. State Media Monitor did not identify accounts or a revenue breakdown with which to verify those proportions.

Editorial independence

ONT’s editorial agenda is aligned with the state.

Its leadership is selected through a process subject to presidential approval, and its chairman personally presents the weekly political programme Kontury. The channel’s own programme catalogue includes a programme titled Propaganda, expressly described as presenting its host’s subjective interpretation of political events.

In January 2025 ONT broadcast a four-part series titled Freedom of Speech, featuring the imprisoned RFE/RL journalists Andrey Kuznechyk, Ihar Losik and Ihar Karney and the opposition activist Yuras Zyankovich. Their statements were obtained in custody, in circumstances that could not be independently assessed. After 2020 the channel curtailed or dropped programmes featuring opposition or independent voices and introduced segments designed to discredit dissent.

Monitoring by the Belarusian Association of Journalists has documented continuing government influence across state broadcast outlets, with no movement toward independent governance.

Formal statutory protections 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 are not supported by independent governance or enforcement at ONT.

AI and digital policy

ONT launched the fact-checking programme Proverka slukha in 2026, and the company says the programme uses artificial-intelligence technologies. State Media Monitor could not establish which tools are used, whether generative output reaches audiences directly, or what human-verification, provenance and disclosure rules apply. No comprehensive published editorial AI policy was identified.

State Media Monitor did not establish whether Belarus has adopted a statutory framework requiring disclosure of AI-generated content in broadcasting.

Classification rationale

ONT remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and directly state-managed. ONT was created by presidential decree and is officially described by the President’s website as a state-owned media outlet. Its documented shareholders include the Ministry of Information and the state-owned Belarusbank, although State Media Monitor could not verify the current percentage distribution or the ownership of Information Technology Factory LLC. The uncertainty over the precise corporate structure does not negate the documented control mechanism: the President authorised the appointment of the current Chairman of the Management Board, and no independent appointment or supervisory structure exists.

It is predominantly state-funded. Belarusian journalists and industry figures interviewed in May 2024 described government financing as ONT’s principal source and advertising as secondary. Historical state subsidies are documented, while ONT also sells television, radio and digital advertising. State Media Monitor could not identify a 2026 appropriation, financial statements or a revenue breakdown.

Its editorial agenda is directed by the state. ONT’s leadership is selected through a process subject to presidential approval, and its chairman personally presents Kontury. The channel’s own catalogue includes Propaganda, expressly described as presenting its host’s subjective interpretation of political events. In January 2025 ONT broadcast the custodial series Freedom of Speech, featuring imprisoned journalists and an opposition activist recognised by human rights organisations as political prisoners. Formal protections in Articles 4 to 7 of the Law on Mass Media are not supported by independent governance or enforcement.

September 2026