Rome - Fininvest, the conglomerate controlled by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was ordered by a Milan civil court to pay 750 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) in damages to rival CIR, the daily Corriere della Sera reported Sunday.

The case stems back to a 1991 deal in which Fininvest (at the time headed directly by Berlusconi) was given control over Mondadori media group by a Rome appeals court.

A court decision in 2007 found that Fininvest had bribed a judge to win favour over rival CIR, run by Carlo de Benedetti.

Berlusconi himself was not involved in the suit due to statute of limitations.

The Berlusconi family was able to expand its influence in the print media and publishing with the purchase. The rival de Benedetti family controls the Berlusconi-critical Rome daily La Repubblica and the magazine L'Espresso.

The award for damages has to be carried out immediately.

Fininvest President Marina Berlusconi, the daughter of Silvio, planned to appeal what she called a "deeply unfair decision."

Claimed that Fininvest had always worked at a "height of correctness," she said the court's judgement had been delivered at a time when her father was most vulnerable to attack. (dpa)