Romania has received the official payment notification of 3.4 billion lei to Pfizer, after losing the lawsuit regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

Romania has been officially notified that it must pay 3.4 billion lei to the Pfizer company, according to the decision of the Belgian court, after losing the lawsuit related to COVID-19 vaccines. The Minister of Health, Cseke Attila, announced that the amount includes 3 billion lei for vaccines, while the rest represents interest and court costs.

The government, through the ministers of Finance and Health, is seeking solutions to stagger the payment, considering that the amount represents 0.2% of GDP and was not budgeted. The Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, emphasized that this is the largest damage caused to the state budget through a lawsuit. Although the lawsuit has passed the first instance, Romania must allocate the amount into a separate account. The government is negotiating with Pfizer to obtain medicines in exchange for the money, but the outcome of these negotiations remains uncertain.