According to election campaign accounts seen by Mediapart, the French events organisers GL Events gave Emmanuel Macron significant discounts on services it provided for his successful election campaign. The company run by Olivier Ginon, an ally of interior minister Gérard Collomb and currently very much in favour at the Elysée, claims these were normal business discounts available to everyone. Yet according to the information seen by Mediapart, conservative candidate François Fillon did not benefit from similarly advantageous rates from the same company. Antton Rouget reports.
He is an ally of Gérard Collomb, formerly mayor of Lyon in eastern France and the current interior minister. But the influence of events company boss Olivier Ginon is now also said to be growing inside the Élysée itself under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. The business is prospering too; the chief executive officer of France's leading events company, who was cited in the Panama Papers, hopes his group will top a billion euros in turnover this year.
