Brussels, 04/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Greek authorities, which have still to recover the 161 million euro in state aid paid illegally to Olympic Airways between 1998 and 2002, says a Commission press release. After authorising different forms of State aid paid by Athens to restructure the ailing airline company from 1998, the Commission discovered that Greece had also granted illegal aid, estimated at 194 million euro at the time, and, in December 2002, decided to require reimbursement. In May 2005, the European Court of Justice confirmed that the Greek authorities had failed to recover the illegal aid, which had been reduced to 161 million euro: 41 million of illegal restructuring aid and 120 million of operational aid, representing the non-payment of various sums owed to the Greek state, such as VAT on fuel and airport charges. The Greek government now has two months to provide the Commission with a satisfactory response, i.e. a plan stating how and when it intended to have the money reimbursed by Olympic Airlines, which succeeded Olympic Airways in 2003. If it fails to do so, the Commission will refer the case to the Court of Justice and request financial penalties against the Greek government.