A fortune for a broken contract. Poland loses to Pfizer and has to pay over PLN 5.6 billion

The Court of First Instance in Brussels ruled on Wednesday that Poland must implement the contract concluded with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19. It is to collect the remaining doses of the vaccine and pay PLN 5,644 million. The judgment is invalid.

The dispute is pending before the court in Brussels, because that is where the agreement between the European Commission and Pfizer was concluded. The EC concluded a contract with an American manufacturer on behalf of the member countries in 2021. Under this contract, Poland committed to purchase a specific number of vaccines in accordance with the negotiated schedule. However, in 2022 it refused to continue receiving doses.

In September 2023, Pfizer took Poland to court to enforce the contract.

The court in Brussels ruled on Wednesday that the evidence presented to it did not allow it to establish any irregularities in the process of awarding a public contract to Pfizer.

– The court also found that the conditions for termination of the purchase agreement by Poland had not been met and that Poland had not demonstrated that the purchase agreement – ​​and specifically its clauses regarding price, number of doses or disclaimer of liability – indicated an abuse of its dominant position by Pfizer, the Belgian court said.

The judgment is invalid. MZ: Poland will appeal

The Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that it would appeal against the non-final judgment of the court in Brussels, which ruled that Poland should receive 64 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and pay PLN 5.6 billion for them.

“The court of first instance awarded the plaintiff the requested amount of money together with interest from the Republic of Poland and ruled on the obligation to collect approximately 64 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19,” the Ministry of Health wrote on X.

The ministry emphasized that Poland has the right to appeal against an invalid judgment.

“Poland intends to use all legal means available to it to change this ruling and defend its interests,” said the Ministry of Health.

The case concerns the contract concluded by the European Commission with Pfizer in 2021 for the supply of vaccines against COVID-19. Poland withdrew from this agreement in 2022.

Tusk: We will all have to pay for PIS's stupidity

Mateusz Morawiecki's government ordered COVID vaccines, which he did not receive and did not pay for. We will all have to pay over PLN 6 billion in fines for this extreme stupidity of PiS – wrote Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday, referring to the judgment of the Court of First Instance in Brussels.

The Court of First Instance in Brussels ruled on Wednesday that Poland must implement the contract concluded with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19. He is to collect the remaining vaccine doses and pay a fine. The judgment is invalid.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the verdict on Platform X: “Morawiecki's government ordered COVID vaccines, which it did not receive and for which it did not pay. Poland, and therefore all of us, will have to pay over PLN 6 billion in fines for this extreme stupidity of PiS. And unfortunately, this is not April Fool's Day,” wrote the Prime Minister. (PAP)

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