Poland faces €1.3bn Pfizer bill, former government blamed

Poland has lost a dispute with Pfizer over the termination of a contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines, with the country now expected to take delivery of the contracted doses and pay around €1.3 billion. The decision was handed down by a court in Belgium and relates to the actions of the former government under Mateusz Morawiecki, which withdrew from the contract in 2022.

According to the PAP news agency, Finance Minister Andrzej Domański said the outcome stemmed from misconduct and a possible breach of the law. The National Tax Administration has already filed ten complaints with the prosecutor’s office in this regard. It said an audit pointed to incorrect estimates of vaccine demand, which led to the purchase of tens of millions of surplus doses.

According to Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grendy, Poland will have to take delivery of around 64 million doses and subsequently dispose of them. She stressed that the sum is comparable to major spending in the health sector. ‘These billions represent the annual cost of medicines for cancer patients,’ she added.

The government is now analysing its next steps and has 60 days to decide. The ruling is not yet final. The finance minister warned that any payment of that scale could affect public spending.

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