INTERNATIONAL

Fewer State Businesses Privatized This Year, Report Says: Governments’ sales of state-owned companies declined about 12% this year, as political opposition put the brakes on some plans, said an analyst at Fin Mark Research Inc. “There was a considerable slowdown in Eastern Europe,” said Scott F. Schulz, vice president at Fin Mark, which publishes the International Privatization Update. “Given the current pace of some programs, it will take three to five years to complete them.” Even though last year’s sales were inflated by $10 billion worth of vouchers given citizens of the Czech Republic to buy 800 companies, Schulz said, sales of state-owned companies totaled $60.8 billion, down from $69 billion in 1992. That was still far higher than the $25 billion from such sales three years ago.