Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Suspilne)

The National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine, operating under the Suspilne brand, is Ukraine’s national public-service media company. It was established in its present form in 2017 through the transformation and consolidation of state television, radio and regional broadcasting organisations under the 2014 law now titled the Law on Public Media of Ukraine. Suspilne is a joint-stock company wholly owned by the state. Ukrainian radio broadcasting dates from 1924, while regular television broadcasting from Kyiv began in 1951.

Media assets

National television: Pershyi, Suspilne Kultura and Suspilne Sport

Local television: twenty-three regional channels plus Suspilne Crimea

Radio: Ukrainian Radio, Radio Promin, Radio Culture and Radiotochka, an online radio service

International radio: Radio Ukraine International, operated as a service of Ukrainian Radio

Digital: Suspilne News, Suspilne Culture, Suspilne Sport, Suspilne Mediateka and Suspilne Eurovision

Suspilne Sport launched on 29 November 2023 as a satellite channel.

Ownership and governance

Suspilne’s highest governing body is its Supervisory Board. The statutory model provides for nine members selected by civil-society organisations and one representative from each parliamentary faction or group, meaning the Board’s total size can change with parliamentary representation rather than being permanently fixed.

As of September 2026, Suspilne’s official roster lists 16 members: nine representing civil society and seven representing parliamentary factions or groups. Svitlana Ostapa is Chair, Oleksandr Pavlichenko Deputy Chair and Vadym Miskyi Secretary. The weighting toward civil-society representation is a substantive structural safeguard.

Mykola Chernotytskyi is Chair of the Management Board. He was re-elected through competition on 15 April 2025 for a second four-year term, receiving ten of the Supervisory Board’s 16 votes.

Source of funding and budget

Suspilne is financed predominantly through state budget support while also earning revenue from programme sales, licensing, advertising, intellectual-property rights and other activities.

The Law on Public Media provides for annual state support of not less than 0.2 per cent of the previous year’s expenditure from the general fund of the State Budget. Successive allocations have remained below that statutory formula.

Documented allocations include UAH 1.7 billion in 2020, around 95 per cent of the broadcaster’s budget that year; UAH 1.87 billion in 2021, about 82 per cent of the mandated level according to IREX; and UAH 1.85 billion in 2024.

Parliament allocated UAH 2.175 billion in 2025. Suspilne’s Supervisory Board recorded state budget support of UAH 2.47 billion for 2026.

Editorial independence

Ukraine’s 2014 reorganisation was intended to create a public broadcaster serving citizens rather than the government of the day. Editorial autonomy is enshrined in law and reinforced through internal charters.

The safeguards are substantive. The governing law prohibits external interference in editorial decision-making and provides that the broadcaster is not obliged to cover state officials. Suspilne adopted an Editorial Charter in 2018 codifying professional standards and principles of independence. The law provides for a fifteen-member Editorial Board appointed in equal thirds by the Supervisory Board, Suspilne’s editorial staff and regional broadcaster editorial boards; Suspilne’s current corporate page lists eleven members, so fifteen is the statutory composition rather than necessarily the current filled membership.

Suspilne’s relationship to the United News telethon is now documented. It participated in the common rotating feed until 21 May 2024. From that date Pershyi began carrying Suspilne’s own continuous information service, including news, studio programmes, documentaries and investigations. Suspilne continued exchanging content with the other participants and described its output as remaining within the wider United News #UArazom project under a supplementary agreement. It was therefore operationally separate from the common feed without completely withdrawing from the broader cooperation framework. Monitoring published in 2026 assesses the United News feed and Pershyi as separate services, confirming that the operational separation remains in place.

Political figures have repeatedly tested editorial boundaries, including attempts to mandate greater airtime for local officials. In 2019, then-chair Zurab Alasania successfully challenged the Supervisory Board’s decision to dismiss him early and was reinstated by a court. Suspilne has produced investigative and political programming that has earned recognition for journalistic integrity.

AI and digital policy

Suspilne approved an Artificial Intelligence Strategy on 3 August 2026, covering implementation through June 2028.

The strategy requires people to remain responsible for AI-supported processes and provides for editorial, ethical, security and reputational risk assessments before tools are deployed. It envisages internal tools for verification, transcription, voice-over, archive management, production planning and content creation, alongside audience-facing recommendation systems, personalised news feeds, data visualisation and an Ask Suspilne conversational service.

The strategy requires transparency where artificial intelligence materially contributes to published content and prohibits AI from replacing accountable editorial judgement. It also provides for further implementation of C2PA provenance standards and structured metadata to authenticate Suspilne material and support correct attribution.

Classification rationale

Suspilne remains classified Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM).

It is wholly state-owned and predominantly state-funded. Suspilne is a joint-stock company wholly owned by the state, receiving UAH 2.175 billion in 2025 and UAH 2.47 billion in state budget support recorded for 2026, while allocations have consistently remained below the statutory floor of 0.2 per cent of previous-year general fund expenditure.

Its governance carries a civil-society majority and competitive management selection. The Supervisory Board’s sixteen members comprise nine from civil society and seven from parliamentary factions or groups, and the Chair of the Management Board is selected through competition rather than appointed by government.

Its editorial independence is protected by statute, the Editorial Charter and the Editorial Board, and it operates a news service distinct from the shared telethon feed. Courts have demonstrated some capacity to enforce its governance arrangements, and Reporters Without Borders expressly treats Suspilne’s establishment as an independent-public-broadcasting reform.

September 2026