Aeroflot may play a part in Alitalia's future even if the ailing Italian carrier is taken over by Air France, Italian premier-in-waiting Silvio Berlusconi said Friday.
Talks with the Russian carrier could pave the way for ''further accords'' to create an even bigger international group where Alitalia could play an ''equal role,'' he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Aeroflot was willing to embark on fresh talks on the future of Alitalia.
Winding up a two-day visit to Berlusconi's Sardinian residence, Putin said Aeroflot was ''ready to pick up contacts''.
Aeroflot dropped a bid for Alitalia last year, judging union conditions excessive. Alitalia and the Italian government later accepted a bid from Air France-KLM but unions are resisting the plan's job cuts.
Bipartisan talks between the incoming and outgoing governments have just begun, with the bid from the Franco-Dutch giant seen as the most realistic solution.
''We have nothing against the Air France solution but we'd like it to create an international group with equal dignity,'' said Berlusconi who had peppered his winning election campaign with pledges to ''keep Alitalia Italian''.
''The situation is still open,'' he said.
The bipartisan talks, meanwhile, are trying to get unidentified Italian banks to take shares in the airline to keep it going, sources close to the talks said Friday.
Berlusconi confirmed that the talks were also looking at ways to give Alitalia a bridging loan.
''The important thing is to solve the problem and keep Alitalia as a flag carrier,'' he said.
The European Commission said a bridging loan could only be given if it not did constitute ''illegitimate'' state aid.
''The conditions must be acceptable to private investors,'' an EC spokesman said.
''State aid is not necessarily against EU rules,'' he said, recalling that the EU approved a 1.2-billion-euro loan in 2005 because it was given and repaid at market conditions.
The leader of Italy's largest trade union, Guglielmo Epifani of the CGIL, said Friday that bipartisan efforts should try to get Air France to ''improve'' its plan and reconsider ''certain interests of the national community,'' a reference to the planned downscaling of Milan's Malpensa airport.
Epifani welcomed the idea of Italian banks taking a bigger stake in the airline.
During the election campaign Berlusconi said an unidentified Italian consortium was taking shape and would make a bid once it had examined Alitalia's books.
