The Brussels court will hear on Monday ROMATSA’s and the Romanian state’s challenges to the garnishment of the administration’s accounts over a debt of 3.42 billion lei

The Brussels Court of First Instance will hear on Monday the two challenges filed by ROMATSA and the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Finance, against the garnishment of the administration’s accounts. The measure was imposed at Eurocontrol’s request as part of enforcement proceedings related to the dispute between Pfizer and the Romanian state.

The amount claimed is 3.42 billion lei, representing the principal balance and interest, plus recovery costs of 18.5 million euros. The court will examine the submissions on the merits, and a decision may be issued at a later date.

The two cases, involving ROMATSA and the Ministry of Finance, will be heard by the same panel. The hearing had initially been scheduled for January 4, 2027, but was brought forward.

ROMATSA maintains that the enforcement concerns the Romanian state’s debts, not the air traffic authority, and is seeking to have the garnishment lifted until the proceedings with Pfizer are concluded. This is the third time the agency’s accounts have been blocked through the Eurocontrol mechanism, following the cases involving the Micula brothers in 2015 and 2019.

The dispute is taking place against a sensitive backdrop for ROMATSA. Shortly beforehand, the Bucharest Court of Appeal had temporarily suspended the agency’s certificate as an air navigation service provider, while the Supreme Council of National Defence warned that an interruption of operations could affect the security of Romanian airspace and NATO missions on the eastern flank.