Pfizer has initiated an unusual legal strategy to recover unpaid fees related to Covid-19 vaccine contracts, targeting funds allocated for air-traffic control services in Poland and Romania. The pharmaceutical company is seeking to enforce pandemic-era agreements to purchase millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses that are no longer needed.
In April, Pfizer succeeded after a prolonged court battle in securing the enforcement of contracts obligating Poland and Romania to pay for over 90 million vaccine doses. To recoup approximately $3 billion (US$2.2 billion) owed, Pfizer obtained court approval in July to place liens on fees paid by airlines to access the two countries’ airspace. These fees constitute a significant portion of the budgets of the national air-navigation agencies.
Poland’s Air Navigation Services Agency (Pansa) and Romania’s equivalent, Romatsa, have strongly criticized the move, warning that it undermines air safety by diverting essential funding. Magdalena Jaworska-Mackowiak, CEO of Pansa, expressed concern that the action threatens critical operational capabilities, noting air traffic controller salaries, infrastructure maintenance, and cybersecurity could be compromised. She stressed that the dispute concerns state-level contractual obligations unrelated to aviation services. Romatsa’s CEO, Adrian Cojoc, described the period as a crisis, highlighting recent cost-cutting measures including staff salary reductions and extended supplier payments.
Pfizer maintains that its measures are a lawful enforcement of contractual commitments that played a key role in Europe’s initial pandemic response. The company’s spokeswoman noted that the court’s judgment underscores the importance of upholding these agreements.
The original vaccine contracts, negotiated collectively by the European Union in 2021, aimed to secure hundreds of millions of doses across member states. Although they were crucial during the early vaccination campaign, many countries now have excess supplies. Poland and Romania notably resisted contract fulfillment after the pandemic’s severity declined and following economic pressures from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Poland, for instance, stated it could no longer afford to accept 63 million doses.
The legal dispute has drawn public and political attention. Poland’s Health Minister, Jolanta Sobieranska-Grenda, compared the sum Pfizer seeks—€1.3 billion—to the country’s entire annual expenditure on cancer medications. Romania faces a similar demand, with Pfizer seeking an additional €600 million.
Seizing funds tied to air-traffic control fees is not without precedent. Other commercial disputes have seen similar tactics employed globally, including the seizure of foreign assets. In Europe, airlines pay fees to a regional regulator, Eurocontrol, which distributes revenues to countries, differing from procedures in the United States. Eurocontrol has recently implemented new protections against such legal claims, effective from August 9, but these safeguards do not apply to the liens already in place against Poland and Romania.
Both countries have appealed the court rulings that froze their air-navigation funds, with hearings scheduled for October and January. Meanwhile, Pansa has secured emergency government funding to maintain critical operations, and Romatsa continues to manage budget constraints under challenging conditions.
Further strain on air-navigation services stems from the regional security context. Traffic decreases related to the Middle East conflict and drone activity over Russian airspace, combined with the increased operational demands due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, exacerbate financial and logistical pressures. Controllers are operating under heightened alert to reroute flights promptly in case of military strikes, while also coordinating NATO military air traffic.
Pansa’s CEO stressed the unintended danger posed by these financial disputes, framing the situation as detrimental to both aviation safety and European security. "I’m here for air-traffic management, not for fighting with Pfizer," Magdalena Jaworska-Mackowiak said, describing the conflict as "nonsense" amid the broader challenges facing the region.