Justice Minister Radu Marinescu stated on Wednesday that the decision by which Romania was sentenced to pay the remaining balance for the anti-COVID vaccines ordered from the pharmaceutical group Pfizer/BioNTech is not final, but it is enforceable and can be implemented by transferring the money to an account.
"It is a decision that has a significant impact on Romania, especially since its material object is the payment of a very large sum of money, plus the respective interest. The Ministry of Justice did not handle the management of this case, but the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the legal provisions. There is an appeal, but this decision has an enforceable nature, which means that, in principle, it can be enforced by transferring the amounts of money to an account. We will follow what happens, the exercise of the appeal and we will see if anything else can be changed", declared Radu Marinescu.
Asked by journalists whether Romania could end up paying more if it does not pay the amount at this time and waits for the appeal to be finalized, Marinescu replied that a refusal could also result in the accumulation of arrears.
"A decision that is enforceable, of course, to the extent that the creditor requests enforcement, he also has the tools to enforce that decision. On the other hand, a refusal to enforce can also result in the accumulation of arrears that can burden the debtor in terms of the passage of time. It is very difficult to speculate on the success of an appeal, but the decision will, of course, be made at the governmental level and, once again, I do not want to speculate any further," said the minister of justice.
On Wednesday, a Brussels court sentenced Poland and Romania to pay an outstanding balance for anti-COVID vaccines ordered from the pharmaceutical group Pfizer/BioNTech, worth 1.3 billion euros and 600 million euros respectively, according to a court statement.
The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer sued the two countries in the autumn of 2023 to enforce the execution of these purchase contracts, which, following the end of the pandemic, Poland and Romania refused to fully carry out.
In this civil dispute, the Brussels Court of First Instance estimated that the two countries had failed to demonstrate that "Pfizer would abuse its right by pursuing the execution of contractual obligations".
The European Commission negotiated and concluded these COVID vaccine purchases on behalf of EU member states, so Belgian courts have jurisdiction to resolve disputes related to these contracts. One of the largest contracts was signed with Pfizer in May 2021.
In April 2022, the then Polish government refused to receive and pay for vaccine doses it considered unnecessary, worth 1.3 billion euros, given the evolution of the pandemic and the state of existing stocks.
Pfizer welcomed the decision issued by the Belgian court on Wednesday in a statement, considering that it reflects "the importance of the contractual obligations that have allowed Europe to successfully respond to this pandemic." The American group "now expects member states to comply with the court's decision," it added.
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