=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2005/09/12/financial/= f081345D89.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, September 12, 2005 (AP) Gov't: Olympic Airlines Will Not Close By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press Writer (09-12) 08:13 PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's Olympic Airlines will continue to fly regardless of a EU decisi= on due this week on whether the carrier received illegal subsidies, the government said Monday. Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said the money-losing company that has served as Greece's national carrier for the past 30 years would either be privatized or liquidated, with it selling its assets but maintaining services. He did not elaborate. On Wednesday, the European Commission is slated to release the findings = of an investigation into possible state aid provided to Olympic by the previous Socialist government in 2003, ahead of and during a restructuring plan intended to make the debt-ridden company a more attractive buy to private investors. EU competition laws ban state subsidies to airlines, and companies that received such funds are obliged to repay them. If ordered to repay the aid, Olympic — which last year posted a net loss of 87 million euros ($109 million) — could be pushed to financial collapse. "The legal process will take some time, but Olympic Airlines will contin= ue to fly during that period," Roussopoulos said. "What I can say with certainty is that the process will either involve the company's sale, or its liquidation in operation." The spokesman said two failed restructuring bids cost the state some 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion), while accrued debts amount to another 1 billion euros ($1.24 billion). "The company currently costs the Greek taxpayer 1.5 million euros ($1.86 million) a day," he said. Roussopoulos repeated a pledge made Sunday by Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis that no Olympic employees would be left jobless. "This will be achieved either through a voluntary retirement program or through employees being transferred to other civil sector jobs," he said. Olympic workers' unions have threatened to blockade airports across Gree= ce if the conservative government closes the carrier. On Aug. 5, Greece signed a preliminary agreement to sell the airline to a consortium consisting of Greek investment company Olympic Investors and U.S. partner York Capital. Any privatization of Olympic would be subject to EU approval. -----------------------------------------------------------= ----------- Copyright 2005 AP