The European Commission’s legal department is expected to decide within the next two months whether to accept to balance its demands for a return of illegal subsidies to Olympic Airways to the state with the company’s claims to the state over its transfer to the new Athens airport, Transport Ministry sources said yesterday.

The Commission has said that the Greek state has illegally subsidized Olympic Airways and Olympic Airlines to the tune of –563 million. However, Olympic Airways has sued the state, claiming nearly –900 million over compensation owed to the company over its transfer to the new Athens airport in March 2001. The transfer was made before Olympic was split into two parts – the flight operations (Olympic Airlines) and the ground handling and maintenance operations (Olympic Airways).

Although Greek courts have accepted Olympic’s claims, some legal experts regard this ruling as suspiciously convenient for the government’s plans to find a private investor for Olympic Airlines.