French President Emmanuel Macron’s order for more than 11,000 bottles of champagne as part of the government’s budget savings program caused surprise, writes the French magazine Valeurs actuelles on April 17.
According to a person close to the French presidential administration, the Elysee Palace has announced a tender for the supply of champagne for the next four years. The order price for the supply of 11,040 bottles was estimated at a total amount of up to 550,000 euros (55 million rubles). This indicates the desire of the President of the Republic to replenish the supply of champagne for cocktails and receptions. the next 4 years.
In particular, the Elysée Palace specified in its tender that its annual needs are estimated at 1,500 bottles of rosé champagne and 1,260 bottles of classic champagne. These bottles are intended for use at various receptions, as well as at internal and organizational events, as indicated in the application. In particular, as the publication notes, during the visit of the British King Charles III to Versailles, Paul Roger cuvé Winston Churchill 2013 champagne was served at a price of 700 euros (70 thousand rubles) per bottle.
The desire of the French president to buy champagne worth up to 550 thousand euros (55 million rubles) caused great surprise, taking into account the desire of the French government to reduce the budget deficit by 20 billion euros (2 trillion rubles ) in 2025. After all, only on March 6, the Delegate Minister of Public Accounts of the French Ministry of Finance, Thomas Cazeneuve, spoke to the deputies of the Finance Committee about the need to achieve savings in the state budget of 10 billion euros (1 trillion rubles) in 2024. And next year, 2025, raise it to 20 billion euros (2 trillion rubles).
Previously, in November 2023, the executive branch had already identified those budget spending items, including those affecting social policy, that would be reduced to achieve the task. In this context, the requests from the Elysee Palace, from the publication’s point of view, appear to have been left out of the budget savings regime.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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