Venezuela said that it has started paying Argentine controlled Ternium for the nationalization of steelmaker Sidor, but has not paid cement makers Holcim and Lafarge for last year's takeovers.

Mr Ali Rodriguez finance minister of Venezuela said that an agreement had been reached with Ternium to compensate it for the government take over of Venezuela's largest steel plant, but said he had not yet been ordered to pay Switzerland's Holcim and France's Lafarge.

Meanwhile, Holcim has launched international arbitration to seek full compensation for the assets seized by Venezuela's government in 2008 during a nationalization drive.

(Sourced from www.aggregateresearch.com)