ST. PETERSBURG, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian automaker Sollers, previously known as Severstal-Avto, and Italy's Fiat Group signed agreements on Saturday to set up two joint ventures.

The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The first joint venture, to produce up to 50,000 class C cars annually, will be launched in late 2008. It will also undertake the distribution of other vehicles produced at Sollers plants - Russian and Korean crossovers, Fiat cars and light-duty trucks.

The companies also agreed on establishing a joint venture to produce diesel engines for other Fiat models assembled in Russia, with a capacity of 90,000 engines annually.

Both enterprises will be structured as 50-50 joint ventures.

Sollers holds controlling stakes in three plants and produces UAZ, SsangYong, Fiat and Isuzu vehicles.