The Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday evening that a calendar has been set for the process between Pfizer and Romania initiated on the Covid vaccines and the documents will be submitted within the next four months. As part of the process, the pharmaceutical company is demanding payment for nearly 29 million doses of the vaccine.

“In the context of which it was announced that Romania will appear on 02/20/2024 at 09:00 before the First Chamber of the French-speaking Court of First Instance in Brussels in the case registered under No. F5331-23 assigned to the plaintiff PFIZER Inc., BIONTECH Manufacturing GmbH, Pfizer România SRL, against Romania, the object of which is the Contract for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19 concluded between the contractor and the European Commission, we clarify that during this day a procedural calendar was drawn up It was established that it will include several stages for the submission of documents, and then hearing stage,” the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday evening, News.ro reported.

Applications can be submitted within the next four months

According to this calendar, the first filing, which was to take place on June 20, 2024, was approximately four months away, the quoted source said.

The Ministry of Finance declares that a clear date for the hearings has not been determined.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the agreed procedural calendar is as follows:

• a. RO – June 20, 2024
• b) Pfizer – August 20, 2024
• C. RO – November 20, 2024
• d. Pfizer – January 20, 2025
• e. RO – March 20, 2025

“Also, Romania informed the court that the issues regarding representation in the trial had been resolved, indicating that the Ministry of Finance had taken up the case. We remind you that legal representation in the French-language court of first instance in Brussels can only be provided by a law firm/firm, in this case the winning representation is SCA Stănescu Vasile si Asociaţii, Strelia CVBA”, Ministry of Finance also stated.

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Romania risks paying Pfizer more than 2.78 billion lei plus legal costs

The Ministry of Finance gives the chronology of the case:

01/08/2024 the summons sent by the French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels on 12/22/2023 in the case registered under No. F5331-23, brought by the plaintiffs PFIZER Inc., BIONTECH Manufacturing, was sent and registered in the records of the Ministry of Health GmbH, Pfizer România SRL, v. Romania, represented by the Ministry of Health, the subject of which is the Contract for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19 concluded between the contractor and the European Commission.

With this summons, the Ministry of Health was notified to appear on 02/20/2024 at 09:00 before the first chamber of the French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels with the demand:

• obliging Romania to fulfill the purchase contract by paying the price for the remaining 28,940,613 doses it purchased in the amount of EUR 564,341,953.5, accordingly paying Pfizer Romania the amount of 2,780,851,410.07 lei, which may be increased during procedures, plus interest at the refinancing rate of the ECB plus 5 points;
• ordering Romania to pay all legal costs and expenses related to the procedure, including costs related to the subpoena procedure, and procedural damages set at EUR 22,500 (the base amount for monetary claims).

“The said dispute was initiated in the context of the fact that the European Commission, on behalf of and for the interests of the member states, entered into an agreement with the contractors of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH (Plaintiffs) pre-purchase agreement for the development, production, priority procurement and supply options of a successful vaccine against Covid-19, registered under no. SANTE/2020/C3/043-S12.838335 and sales contracts SANTE/2021/C3/005 and SANTE/2021/03/2020, respectively. Later, by means of a Memorandum approved on 01.02.2024, the Government of Romania authorized the Ministry of Finance to enter into an agreement on legal assistance and representation services in order to ensure the representation of Romania in the case registered under No. F5331-23”, the Ministry of Finance also clarified.

According to the cited statement, the Ministry of Finance has conducted an analysis of specialized lawyers who provide representation of the Ministry’s interests before arbitration courts in disputes conducted in accordance with the rules of the ICSID arbitration procedure, as well as in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

“It has been assessed that the law firms selected in accordance with the principles of competitiveness and transparency at the 2019 level for this activity (and have a representative mandate) meet all the technical requirements to participate in the selection procedure, as a result of which the legal team for case No. F5331 will be appointed -23 (the selection criterion was the most beneficial from an economic point of view). For representation, the Ministry of Finance also turned to law firms that provide representation in the same court (Francophone Court of First Instance in Brussels) of the Republic of Poland and Hungary,” the message reads.

The agency says Pfizer Inc is suing both states. and BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH, requesting that they be ordered to pay amounts representing contracted and unpaid vaccine doses.

“This decision was taken because, from a technical point of view, these companies also meet the criteria necessary for the legal representation of Romania at the Tribunal. Thus, a total of eight invitations to participate in the selection procedure were sent and six representative offers were received. Among them, the evaluation commission of the ministry identified the SCA Stănescu Vasile si Asociaţii, Strelia CVBA association as the winner,” the ministry also informs.

Read also:

• Pfizer Sues Romania Over Anti-Covid Vaccines / 28 Million Doses, Costing €550 Million From Initial Contract, Romania Backs Out / What Health Minister Says
• Vlad Voiculescu on the vaccine procurement dossier: “If it were public, the truth would be 100% obvious”
• INTERVIEW Who decided how many vaccines to purchase during the pandemic and who signed the contract? Vlad Voiculescu: The contract was signed by a representative authorized by CNCAV – a MAPN researcher
• Rafila on the Pfizer lawsuit: I think it’s completely unnatural for a pharmaceutical company to undermine the credibility of vaccinations