Economy
The Venezuelan government reached an agreement with Ternium consortium on the nationalization of the iron and steel industry Sidor, after setting the price and the terms of payment for the facilities, said President Hugo Chávez.

The state took this year the control of the largest iron and steel company in the Andean and Caribbean region. However, the talks lingered even though a base price had been initially agreed upon.

"Sidor is a case virtually closed. Yes, it (the price) has been defined, everything is defined, it is written (…) a deal was made and some terms of payments were agreed," Chávez told reporters on Monday at midnight. However, he did not give details about the corporate value.

The president vowed to answer to any complaint that could be filed by Ternium, but added later that the subsidiary of Argentinean conglomerate Techint was looking for a single, immediate compensation, Reuters reported.

Ternium had noted that it was still negotiating with the Venezuelan government amidst press reports of a deal for payment of USD 1.6 billion for 50 percent of the company.