CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s government seized control Tuesday of the South American country’s Kellogg subsidiary after it halted operations, President Nicolas Maduro announced.

Maduro said the company had been “handed over to the workers” to continue production after the US-based cereals manufacturer said it was ceasing operations.

The US multinational said in a statement earlier that it was ending its operations in the country, citing the economic crisis.

“The current economic and social deterioration in the country has now prompted the company to discontinue operations,” it said.

The government has previously taken over the plants of other companies who have left the country.

“What did the revolutionary government do? The labour minister and the economy minister immediately arrived, opened the company and handed it over to the workers, and the company is producing with the industrial working class,” said Maduro, who is seeking a second term in elections Sunday.