UPDATE 2-CANTV approved for April 2006 dividend in dollars

(Adds market hopes for new dividend, paragraphs)

CARACAS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Telecommunications group CANTV TDVd.CR VNT.N has received approval from Venezuela's currency authority to pay an April 2006 dividend of $2.28 per American Depositary share.

Leading shareholder Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ.N) agreed on Monday to sell its 28.5 percent stake in CANTV to the Venezuelan government for $572 million as part of a nationalization drive led by leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Investors hope that deal, which on face value appears a low price, could be sweetened with new dividend payouts, Caracas stock exchange traders said.

On Tuesday, CANTV said in a statement that "ADS holders have received approval from Government's Committee for the Administration of Foreign Currency (CADIVI) to convert into US$ the dividend that was paid by CANTV on April 27, 2006."

Venezuela has maintained exchange controls on its local bolivar currency since 2003 that prevent repatriation of dividends without government approval.

CANTV said the total amount approved was $192.3 million.

The company is still awaiting approval from CADIVI for another dividend paid out last year.

The Verizon agreement on Monday represented a buyout price of $17.85 per ADS and the government said it would make a public offer for minority stakeholders' shares too.

The government deal was below the $21 per ADS that Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim had offered last year to buy out Verizon.

Still, CANTV's ADS closed up 7.3 percent at $17.25 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange as investors hoped a new dividend would be paid before the purchase was completed as part of the agreement with the government, traders said.

CANTV's board of directors is expected to meet this week when it could decide on a new dividend.

"That could cover the difference between that (government) price and Slim's," Sharim Rubio of local brokerage Vencred said, describing the government price as "very low."