Romania to challenge Pfizer's freezing of ROMATSA accounts in Belgian court, PM Bolojan confirms negotiations will continue

The account seizure

On 30 June 2026, EUROCONTROL notified ROMATSA, Romania's state air traffic services provider, that it had imposed a precautionary-enforcement seizure on its route navigation charges at the request of Pfizer. The move is part of an enforcement proceeding launched by the pharmaceutical giant against the Romanian state after it won a lawsuit over unpaid COVID-19 vaccine contracts. The total amount claimed is approximately 600 million euros, equivalent to roughly 3.4 billion lei, plus recovery costs exceeding 18.5 million euros.

Pfizer court award600,000,000

Annual ROMATSA route charges300,000,000

Recovery costs18,500,000

Pfizer court award

600000000 EUR

Annual ROMATSA route charges

300000000 EUR

Recovery costs

18500000 EUR

Data from the article text

Pfizer engaged a law firm and a bailiff in Belgium to trigger the enforcement, which also targets Poland over a similar dispute. The sums seized are those EUROCONTROL collects on behalf of ROMATSA from airlines for en-route air navigation services, an annual flow of about 300 million euros.

Government's dual-track response

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, speaking after a cabinet meeting on 2 July, said the government will file a contestation against the enforcement procedure in a Belgian court next week. Simultaneously, negotiations with Pfizer will continue through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health.

“ROMATSA, together with the Romanian Government's lawyers, will file a contestation in Belgium next week against this enforcement procedure. On the other hand, we will continue negotiations with Pfizer in order to find a solution.”

Bolojan added that under an agreement with Pfizer, authorities cannot comment on the substance of the talks. The goal is to close the litigation in a manner acceptable to both sides and sustainable for the state budget.

ROMATSA not a party to the dispute

ROMATSA stressed that it is not and never was a party to the lawsuit that triggered the enforcement, which is directed exclusively against the Romanian state. The air traffic operator has instructed the Belgian law firm that assisted it in previous similar situations, the Micula cases of 2015 and 2019, to examine legal options, including suspending the measure.

EUROCONTROL has 15 days from notification to declare the sums held or owed to the Romanian state and to freeze them, preventing any payment to anyone other than the seizure applicant until the dispute is resolved. ROMATSA is also in contact with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance and has scheduled a technical meeting with EUROCONTROL.

Air traffic unaffected, PM assures

Despite the account freeze, Bolojan gave assurances that ROMATSA will operate without disruption. "The company will function without problems in the coming period. The supervision and routing of flights over Romanian territory will not be affected," he said. The prime minister stressed that the government is pursuing a solution that both settles the debt and preserves ROMATSA's operational capacity, while avoiding a burden on the state budget that is not sustainable.