Pfizer freezes Polish air-traffic agency PANSA over €1.3bn vaccine debt

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s air-traffic control agency, PANSA, has been cut off from most of its revenue as part of a legal dispute between the Polish state and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer over an unpaid bill of €1.3 billion (5.6 billion zloty) for COVID-19 vaccines.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Friday that the government will ensure that PANSA receives funds to enable it to continue operations and that air safety will not be compromised.

Pfizer wszedł na konto agencji nadzorującej polskie niebo #PAŻP . To działania komornicze, aby ściągnąć 5,6 mld zł od Polski za przegraną o szczepionki przeciw #Covid19 – pisze @KlaraKlinger i @RenataKim3 @NewsweekPolska . @MZ_GOV_PL @donaldtusk @Arlukowicz https://t.co/wPnoKLJokJ

— rynekzdrowia.pl (@rynekzdrowia) July 9, 2026

PANSA is not a party to the legal dispute with Pfizer, but has been targeted as part of efforts by the American company to enforce payment, reported the Newsweek Polska weekly and Rynek Zdrowia, a health news website, which were the first to break the story.

They revealed that the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), which manages air traffic in Europe, had suspended payment of so-called en route air navigation charges to PANSA.

That was later confirmed in a statement by PANSA, which noted that such fees “constitute over 80% of the agency’s revenue and are the primary source of financing for its operations”.

“The enforcement order obligates Eurocontrol to withhold all funds from en route charges to PANSA – both current and future – until Pfizer’s claim is satisfied or the matter is otherwise resolved,” wrote PANSA.

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Eurocontrol is based in Belgium, which is where Pfizer has been fighting its legal battle against Poland. In March this year, a Belgian court ordered that Poland must pay €1.3 billion for 60 million Covid vaccine doses Warsaw had ordered through the European Commission but, in 2022, declared that it no longer wanted.

Poland is still preparing to file an appeal. However, its request for enforcement of the ruling to be delayed until the appeal is heard was rejected by the Belgian court, allowing Pfizer to begin seeking enforcement.

This month, Romania’s air-traffic agency, ROMATSA, confirmed that it too had been cut off from funds by Eurocontrol as part of Pfizer’s similar legal claim against the Romanian state for €600 million in unpaid fees for Covid vaccines.

Datoria României către Pfizer ajunge la ROMATSA: Eurocontrol a notificat poprirea sumelor colectate pentru statul român https://t.co/U0GGtQtjU3

— stiripesurse.ro (@stiripesurse_ro) July 1, 2026

In its statement, PANSA said that, in coordination with Poland’s general prosecutor’s office, it was taking “all steps to lift the order and release the funds”, including filing a “formal objection” to the move.

In the meantime, it was seeking to secure other financial resources to replace the withheld funds and ensure that operations can continue. “Maintaining the highest level of safety and continuity of air navigation services remains PANSA’s priority, and there is no risk of any employee layoffs.”

Speaking on Friday, Prime Minister Tusk said that he was in talks with his finance minister, Andrzej Domański, over the issue. He assured that “we of course won’t leave PANSA without help” and that “there won’t be any problems with its operations”.

🔴PAŻP bez pieniędzy przez Pfizera. Tusk zabrał głos

Polska Agencja Żeglugi Powietrznej straciła dostęp do swoich głównych przychodów z powodu sporu rządu z koncernem farmaceutycznym Pfizer. – Od pierwszych dni naszych rządów staramy się rozwiązać problem – mówił Tusk, pytany o…

— Wirtualna Polska (@wirtualnapolska) July 10, 2026

Tusk also noted that the entire issue stemmed from decisions made by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023. It was under PiS that the vaccines were ordered but then cancelled, triggering Pfizer’s legal action.

“Order, don’t collect them, don’t pay, and then blame the need to pay on their successors – that’s pretty typical of them,” said Tusk. “But it makes my blood boil every time I hear about the Pfizer problem.”

“Although our legal battle is ongoing, the threat is obvious,” he added. “We’re being sued by Pfizer for billions of zloty…All of us may have to pay.”

A Belgian court has ordered Poland to pay US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer around €1.3 billion for Covid vaccines ordered by the European Commission on behalf of member states during the pandemic but which the Polish government later refused to receive https://t.co/1ZtPgl8Y3o

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 2, 2026

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ministerstwo Infrastruktury (under CC BY-SA 4.0 )