"From the State's point of view, we consider that in terms of progress in terms of respecting the schedule to carry out the deliveries of the Games in good conditions, as in terms of the budget, the files are very well controlled" , explained Mr. Cadot, auditioned in the Assembly by the working group on the Olympic Games.

The interministerial delegation to the Olympic Games is the conductor of the organization of the Paris Games and provides the link between the State services, the organizing committee (Cojo), the company delivering the Olympic works (Solideo, responsible for permanent works), as well as the various local authorities.

On the occasion of this hearing, the financial director of the organizing committee, Fabrice Lacroix, announced that at the end of 2021 there had been a "minimum" revision of the budget which took it from "3.903 to 3.980 billion euros", due "in particular" to "additional revenue linked" to a partnership with On location".

This also made it possible to "cover" "spending adjustments", citing "sites and infrastructure" for "about twenty million euros", "the trajectory of the slightly undersized payroll", or even " digital operations.

Budget revision at the end of 2022

A budget review is scheduled for the end of 2022. The Olympic law of March 22, 2018 also provides for a report by the Court of Auditors to be "submitted to Parliament in 2022".

“It will undoubtedly be followed by a second report in the summer of 2023 which will make a more complete and detailed analysis of the budget revision adopted by the Cojo board of directors at the end of 2022,” said Mr. Cadot.

Asked about the opening ceremony on the Seine, announced as ambitious and unprecedented, and the cost of which has not yet been quantified, Mickaël Aloïsio, director of the cabinet of the president of the Cojo Tony Estanguet, explained that it "will be financed by redeployments".

The interministerial delegate for the Paris 2024 Games Michel Cadot (3rd from left) with other senior officials of the organization of the Olympic Games at Paris-Charles de Gaule airport, returning from the Tokyo Games on August 9, 2021 STEPHANE FROM SAKUTIN AFP/Archives

On its cost, "we would like to see the first balances land by the summer," said Mr. Lacroix.

“Among the operational and budgetary risks we face, this is not necessarily the most significant,” he insisted.

In addition, Paris 2024 has a "provision of 300 million" euros for contingencies, he said, also adding that "significant work" on the "identification of risks" has been launched with the audit committee.

On the security of this "high risk event", Mr. Cadot revealed that there was a "work" in progress "perimeter by perimeter, from Trocadero to Bercy".

"Private security will control the low quays which are the responsibility of the organizer and the bridges on which there will be bleachers", he detailed.

The free part, the high quays, "is the main responsibility of the State".

But, he said, "given the magnitude of the effort required", the sharing "will have to be done with the municipal police on the one hand and with private security for a small part", this which will be the subject of "a final negotiation in May-June".

© 2022 AFP