EU countries have ordered vaccines for their populations in a joint procurement programme.
BRUSSELS: Pharmaceutical corporations Pfizer and BioNTech are suing the Polish and Hungarian governments, alleging they failed to pay for vaccines ordered for the Covid pandemic, lawyers said today.
EU member countries have ordered vaccines for their populations as part of a joint purchasing program, and companies are taking their cases to courts in Belgium, the European Commission’s host country.
According to the law firm representing Poland in the case, the US and German companies are demanding that Poland pay a debt of 5.6 billion zlotys, or €1.3 billion, plus interest.
Hungary is also accused of breach of contract, but a source familiar with the matter told AFP that Budapest faces a much smaller claim: 60 million euros ($60 million) for 3 million vaccine doses.
Pfizer demonstrated that the instances were ongoing but verified the quantities requested.
“Pfizer and BioNTech are claiming money owed for Covid-19 vaccine orders that were contractually agreed with those governments, as part of their initial contract with the European Union signed in May 2021,” the companies said.
‘Large quantities’
According to Brussels law firm Strelia, Poland’s dispute with Pfizer goes back to April 2022.
The Polish government then “informed Pfizer Inc and the European Commissioner for Health, Food and Safety that it would not receive the vaccines, and appealed to its position on various legal arguments and factual cases. “
In a social media post earlier this month, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs accused the European Commission and Pfizer of conspiring to extract money from EU member states.
“It is clear that these vaccines have been ordered and imposed on member states in unnecessary quantities,” said Kovacs, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s head of foreign communications.
Pfizer refuted those arguments and the alleged breach of contract and filed a lawsuit in Poland in September.
Brussels told AFP that a preliminary hearing would be held on January 30.
There have been no cases of corruption in the European Commission’s joint procurement formula.
But Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has come under fire through the European Ombudsman for refusing to make public her text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.