EUROPE

Czechs Expect Smoother Privatization Sale: The final round of Czech Republic state asset sales through vouchers will be more efficient than last year’s, said Roman Ceska, first deputy minister at the Czech Privatization Ministry. He said the process should be quicker than last year’s, when shares in about 1,000 Czech companies were sold through the voucher scheme. Many companies on the block last year still have a small number of state shares outstanding that will be sold on the capital markets. In the voucher scheme, citizens receive voucher booklets for a small sum, then bid on companies in which they want to buy shares. Last year, most citizens gave up their voucher points to investment funds.