Russia, Italy Forge Nuclear Power Agreement

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came to an agreement to help rebuild the Italian nuclear industry today. Berlusconi came to power partly because of riding the nuclear platform.

The nuclear deal will entail working on thrid and fourth-generation reactors, said Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko. Kiriyenko added that while Italy still has some expertise, they've lost some of it since dropping a nuclear program in 1986 after the Chernobyl incident.

Berlusconi is looking to the industry to make Italy into a major nuclear power in the European Union.

In other agreements between the two countries, Russian automaker Sollers agreed to manufacture low-cost cars from Fiat in Russia; Italian tire maker Pirelli will produce tires in Samara in cooperation with Russian Technologies; and Finmeccanica, an Italian aerospace and defense company will work with a number of Russian state-controlled companies in a variety of deals, including the Russian rail sector.

A 1.35 billion euro deal between LUKoil and Italian refiner ERG will give Russia a presence in the European refining business.

In a side note, Berlusconi made a statement about U.S. president-elect Barack Obama that caused a stir.

Talking of Russian president Medvedev, he said he shouldn't have any problems working with Obama, as he is "also handsome, young and even suntanned."

When the Obama-loving mainstream media got hold of it and attacked Berlusconi for the comment, he fired back saying they were faulty of "not having a sense of humor."