The Breton patron François Pinault and his son François-Henri signed Tuesday with the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Michel Aupetit, an agreement concretizing their pledge of 100 million euros for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris. In full form, François Pinault joked before affixing his signature on the documents: "Sorry, my lord, I forgot my checkbook". "On April 15, at eleven o'clock in the evening," he said, "we looked at the images of the burning cathedral, we agreed and we decided on this gift," pointing out that he had decided to leave the discretion appropriate to this type of gesture to "train others".
The $ 100 million donated by the Pinault family, which includes the Kering group, will remain for the Notre-Dame Foundation, even if the restoration of the cathedral proves to be less expensive than expected, he said. . As and when requested by the Foundation, sums will be paid. On June 20, a first tranche of 10 million euros had already been released at the request of the Foundation for security work. To date, the Fondation Notre-Dame has obtained, between April 17 and September 30, 380 million euros (donations already received and promises that will be "materialized").
Always a rhythm of 140 donations per week
Asked about the amounts needed for the restoration, Bishop Aupetit, who chairs the Notre-Dame Foundation, recalled that "it will be necessary to wait until spring to know how long it will last, and what it will cost".
46,000 individuals, 168 companies and 29 public authorities in France and abroad contributed 36 million euros to the Foundation's funds. The pace of donations remains steady at the level of 140 donations per week. Last week, the billionaire and luxury industrialist Bernard Arnault had signed an equivalent agreement for 200 million euros for Notre Dame.
More than 850 million euros have been pledged by wealthy individuals, companies and individuals. As part of the national subscription, three foundations - the Heritage Foundation, the Notre-Dame Foundation and the Fondation de France - as well as the Center des Monuments Nationaux, manage the collection for the State. By the end of October, other contributions to the Notre-Dame Foundation will be "formalized", like that of the Île-de-France region (10 million) but also of the AXA group: 5 million will be allocated to the creation of a special foundation that will support "the influence of the cathedral during the construction period". The proceeds of the donations are donated by the foundations to the state and then to the public institution when it is set up in November.