The big story of the week is obviously the epilogue of the Casino file. In a story teeming with details and unpublished anecdotes, Gwénaëlle Barzic and Philippe Bertrand recount these incredible episodes where, in a few days, the fate of the distributor changed in favor of Daniel Kretinsky. An unknown actor played a key role, it is the hedge fund Attestor whose rallying to the offer of the Czech billionaire was decisive. Anne Drif gives us a portrait of this fund, which is not in its first battle in France.
How did Casino come to this? How could Jean-Charles Naouri last for so long? The time for introspection is coming, write Gwénaëlle Barzic and Isabelle Couet in a survey where all the major players in the Paris marketplace play a role, not always to their advantage! As for Daniel Kretinsky, allied in this adventure to Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, his plan is clear and he detailed it in an interview granted to our specialists.
“The Best Minister”
If the world of distribution sometimes looks like a big bazaar, it’s not without reason. We looked at the phenomenal success of the Dutch brand Action, France’s favorite brand ahead of Decathlon. Action has reinvented the bazaar, precisely, and our specialists explain in a captivating video “why it has become cool to shop at Action”.
The other story of the week is this long-awaited reshuffle which we will remember above all that it consecrates “the best minister” – according to Emmanuel Macron according to a confidence reported by Cécile Cornudet – Gabriel Attal, called to replace one who was probably not made for this, Pap Ndiaye, to take the reins of National Education. The opportunity to dive back into the masterful portrait-investigation of Gabriel Attal, 34, signed by Henri Gibier who makes us discover the hidden springs of his ambition.
The full list of Elisabeth Borne’s new government can be found here. A minimum redesign, says Isabelle Ficek. Note the appointment of Aurélien Rousseau as Minister of Health. The former chief of staff to the Prime Minister, 47-year-old State Councilor, was above all a key man during the Covid crisis since he piloted the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency with unlimited energy. Solenn Poullennec paints his portrait for us.
The salary of the French
Before leaving Bercy, Gabriel Attal granted Isabelle Ficek and Dominique Seux his last interview in which he revealed the main lines of a 2024 budget marked by a significant drop in expenditure, due it is true essentially to the end of tariff shields. The hardest remains to be done for his successor, the deputy of Gironde Thomas Cazenave! Its mission, explained by Isabelle Couet: to initiate a reduction in state spending. The turn of the screw begins on the revenue side since the contribution on the added value of companies should not finally disappear next year as initially promised. Savings are also envisaged on the side of housing aid, targeting the wealthiest households, reveals Elsa Dicharry.
The good news for individuals comes from salaries since the increases envisaged this year are catching up with the evolution of prices , indicates Nathalie Silbert. It is time, however, to face the truth: the State has helped households with whatever it costs and tariff shields, but this should not hide the fact that the French, having lost in competitiveness and working less than their neighbors, tend to get poorer, notes our editorialist Lucie Robequain.
Electric doubles diesel
We probably don’t have to look much further for the reason for the decline in… the demand for chocolate, this commodity becoming a luxury for many households, explains Etienne Goetz. The ton of cocoa is traded today at its highest level for thirty years, in particular because the harvests in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, two countries which concentrate 60% of world production, are disappointing. For other reasons, the outlook is also worrisome in the grain market as Moscow threatens to sink freighters loaded with Ukrainian grain. Another consequence of the conflict, Vladimir Putin signed without warning a decree to take control of the Russian subsidiary of Danone, indicate Christophe Palierse and Marie-Josée Cougard. A subsidiary that the Kremlin has entrusted to… Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, an autocrat very close to Putin, in power for twenty years…
What is happening in the electrical market? In Europe, the shift is confirmed because for the first time, more electric cars than diesel have been sold on the Old Continent, reports Hayat Gazzane. In the United States, on the other hand, our correspondent Solveig Godeluck tells how unsold electric cars are piling up at dealerships due to the drop in the price of gasoline. Virtue will wait! Things are not going any better for the high-end electric bike brand VanMoof, declared bankrupt by an Amsterdam court, our correspondent Stefan de Vries tells us.
Atomic Choices
These events do not change the fact that the demand for electricity will explode over the next few years. Hence France’s desire to preserve its nuclear asset within the framework of the reform of the European electricity market, which is by no means obvious , underline Sharon Wajsbrot and our correspondent in Brussels Fabienne Schmitt. The United Kingdom also believes in the atom and has just announced, like France, a call for tenders to develop small modular reactors called SMR, the new fashion in nuclear power, explains our correspondent Ingrid Feuerstein. At the same time, bad signs are piling up for offshore wind: Sweden’s Vattenfall is suspending its wind project in the North Sea, UK, due to soaring costs.
Our favorite series
What will the world look like in one, two or three generations? Very young face in Niger where the population is set to double in the next fifteen years. Lucie Robequain recounts the demographic vertigo of this country where the emancipation of women remains a struggle. Our correspondent in Tokyo recounts another vertigo, that of a Japan which empties and will lose 40 million inhabitants by 2060! To discover also, Albania, a country which is depopulated because of the exodus of its inhabitants, testifies Basile Dekonink. The opposite of Malta jostled by massive immigration, as noted by Emmanuel Grasland. But in two or three generations, the world will certainly be a little more Indian, this country, one of the youngest in the world, bringing together a sixth of humanity, reports our correspondent in Delhi Clément Perruche.
This article is originally published on lesechos.fr
