The Venezuelan government is set to nationalize only the cement companies that were formerly owned by the Venezuelan State, said President Hugo Chávez, as quoted in a press release published on Monday.

In a phone conversation with state-run television channel VTV, Chávez explained that some people owning private cement companies in northwestern Zulia state, asked for information about his announcement last Thursday that he would nationalize the cement industry because it was a strategic sector for the country, said the communiqué published by the Communication and Information Ministry, the Venezuelan official news agency ABN reported.

"We are only going to nationalize what was privatized, namely the big cement companies formerly owned by the State and that were virtually given away," Chávez told the cement firms.

The statement came after the Venezuelan ruler last week announced he would order nationalization of the cement firms operating in the country, Reuters reported.

The Basic Industries and Mining Ministry would not clarify what are the corporations to be nationalized.