PARMA, Italy (Reuters) - A judge on Monday allowed Italian dairy group Parmalat (PLT.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) to sue Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for 14 billion euros in damages over Parmalat's collapse in 2003.

On the first day of a preliminary hearing in Parma, Judge Paola Artusi allowed the group become a civil party in the trial of 10 Citigroup executives, who face charges including fraudulent bankruptcy.

"We will obviously be asking for the entire amount of the fraud equivalent to 14 billion euros," Marco De Luca, Parmalat's lawyer, said in a statement on Monday.

The damages being sought by Parmalat are the same amount as the debt under which it collapsed in 2003.

Judge Artusi set May 28 for the next hearing.

In a separate case in Milan, Citigroup stands accused of market-rigging in connection with Parmalat's failure.

On Friday, the judge in that case barred Parmalat Chief Executive Enrico Bondi from becoming a plaintiff.

Parmalat, which is involved in dozens of cases in Italy and the United States linked to its demise, has successfully sued several banks that worked with the group's previous management.

But it suffered a setback in a case against Citigroup in the United States last week when the judge dismissed much of the multi-billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Parmalat against the bank.