CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan officials temporarily took over management of a French-owned chain of hypermarkets on Tuesday after President Hugo Chavez announced plans to expropriate the stores.

Valentina Querales, chief inspector for the consumer protection agency, said officials will control the Exito hypermarket chain’s six stores for two days after authorities detected improper price hikes.

Speaking on state television, Commerce Minister Eduardo Saman said Exito’s workers would eventually assume management of the chain and fold it into a network of state-run companies selling household appliances and other products at discounted prices.

To reduce costs, the government plans to import goods and send them directly to the stores, avoiding private importers and intermediaries, he said.

“Starting today, this company becomes a socialist company,” Saman said while surrounded by Exito employees who support the expropriation.

Other employees oppose the measure, saying they fear they could lose their jobs.

Chavez announced Sunday that his government planned to expropriate the chain, majority-controlled by France-based Casino Guichard Perrachon SA.

An employee who answered the phone at Exito’s offices Tuesday said nobody was available to comment.

A conglomerate of small Colombian companies holds a minority.

Chavez has repeatedly threatened to seize businesses that raise prices in response to the country’s first currency devaluation since 2005. His government is seeking to contain double-digit inflation.

The socialist leader eliminated the previous fixed rate of 2.15 bolivars to the dollar on January 8. His government set a new two-tiered rate: 2.6 per dollar for priority goods, such as food and medicine, and 4.3 for imports of nonessential items, such as air conditioners and electronics.

The devaluation is widely expected to further boost inflation that reached 25 per cent last year, the highest in Latin America.

After announcing earlier this week that Cada, a network of 35 supermarkets partially owned by Casino, could also be expropriated, Saman said Tuesday that for now there are no plans to seize control of the grocery chain.