CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Holcim Ltd's (HOLN.VX) decision to go to court over Venezuela's failure to pay for its seized assets has no legal footing and means the company will have to wait several years before receiving any compensation, a top Venezuelan lawmaker said Thursday.
Angel Rodriguez, head of the National Assembly's Mines and Energy Commission, said in a press release that Holcim "made a mistake by abandoning conciliatory mechanisms."
Venezuela agreed to pay $552 million for an 85% stake in Holcim's local operations and the government is not willing to pay a higher amount, Rodriguez said.
Venezuela is facing an increasing number of international demands for having failed after seizing local assets.
The government has yet to pay for last year's nationalization of the cement industry, including the assets Holcim, Mexico's Cemex (CX) and France's Lafarge SA (LFRGY).
Holcim said on March 23 that it is taking actions against Venezuela in the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, in Washington, D.C., to demand full payment for its nationalized operations in Venezuela.
-By Darcy Crowe, Dow Jones Newswires; (58) 212 905 6304; darcy.crowe@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-26-09 1026ET
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