( CNN ) -- President Hugo Chavez on Thursday ordered the nationalization of the Banco de Venezuela `` to put it at the service of Venezuela '' after denying approval for its sale . President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela says the banks owners are n't interested in selling but he 's buying anyway . The leftist president said in a televised address to the nation that he heard `` a few months ago '' that the bank 's Spanish owner -- Grupo de Santander -- was planning to sell the bank , which was privatized a few years ago , to a Venezuelan banker . The banker had asked the Venezuelan government for permission needed to complete the deal , Chavez said . `` I sent a message to the Spaniards : No . And to the Venezuelan banker : No , '' Chavez said . `` Now the government wants to buy the bank , wants to recover it , because it 's called the Bank of Venezuela , to put it at the service of Venezuela . '' Chavez said he was told Wednesday that the owners now were no longer interested in selling . `` So now I am telling them I am interested in buying . We are going to nationalize the Banco de Venezuela . '' In a written statement issued Friday , Banco de Santander said it had planned to sell the bank to a Venezuelan private investors group , but `` found afterward that the Venezuelan government was interested in [ acquiring ] Banco de Venezuela , and conversations are under way to that effect . ''
Banco de Venezuela 's Spanish owner asked for permission to sell , Chavez says . Comment: Bank now will be `` at the service of Venezuela , '' Chavez says .