INFO BFM HERE. The sum paid by Labellemontagne, the company managed by Jean-Yves Rémy, as part of the reversion does not suit Dominique Laudré, the president of SEM-Sedev. If neither party wishes to denounce the agreement which binds the two companies, the weather seems to be stormy again between the two stations for the management of the White Forest.
The hatchet is still buried, but the handle protrudes again. The agreement which links the resorts of Vars and Risoul for the exploitation of the Forêt Blanche will soon be closely examined by the commercial court of Gap (Hautes-Alpes), BFM DICI has learned. The case will be pleaded this Friday, November 22.
“The court will have to, among other things, rule on the request relating to the assessment of the terms of calculation of the reversion fixed in the agreement binding the two parties, and on the resulting requests for payment”, confirmed this Monday the registry from the Gap commercial court to our branch.
So, what is the origin of the dispute? A disagreement over the conditions of execution of this agreement signed by SEM-Sedev, the company which manages the Vars ski area, and Labellemontagne, which takes care of the Risoul ski area, as part of a public service delegation . With, as in the past, a disagreement on a significant subject: the sum paid by Risoul to Vars for the operation of their common connection, which allows skiers to benefit from both areas.
“They are going back on what they signed. It’s insoluble…” laments Jean-Yves Rémy, the president of Labellemontagne. “They don't want an agreement, but a sum of money. So, if this sum is not reached, well they will never be happy”, thinks the business leader.
Risoul’s pricing policy at the heart of the debates
According to our information, it is a specific point of the agreement which pushed Dominique Laudré, the president of SEM-Sedev, to refer the matter to the Gap commercial court: that of pricing policy.
The Risoul resort has large residences, such as “Les Mélèzes”, which offer accommodation rental at attractive prices via tour operators. In the mountains, these are what we call “warm beds”. “When the manager fills up his residence, the skier day is less expensive,” explains a Risouline source.
When calculating the reversion at the end of the season, Labellemontagne therefore relies on this reduced price to budget what it will have to give to Vars. SEM-Sedev pleads for a theoretical price, fixed in advance and independent of promotional offers.
For the 2023-2024 season, with its calculation method, Labellemontagne would pay around 350,000 euros to Vars. For SEM-Sedev, the account is not there since the sum paid should be between 500,000 and 800,000 euros.
“The pricing policy practiced by Labellemontagne in Risoul cannot have an impact on the amount that must go to SEM-Sedev,” reacts Dominique Laudré. “Mr. Rémy has the right to sell at the price he wishes. However, it must be assumed that the person offering a gift is responsible for it. To avoid tension between the two companies, we defend the idea that the value of the product offered to customers on both sides must be fixed so as not to return to it every year, we started with a basic value price of 1/6th of the six-day package”, explains the mayor. from Vars.
And to conclude with an example: “If it costs 40 euros to ski in Vars and Labellemontagne sells its pass for 20 euros, well it must still cost 40 euros in the end. Vars does not have to bear the difference”.
The connection will be open for skiers
In Guillestrois, this new quarrel between the two companies is hampering the surroundings. In Vars as in Risoul. “They signed the same agreement, but do not find the same result. What is wise is that they go to court. They do not agree so, intelligently, they ask the courts to decide. Will she be competent to do so? To be continued, because this convention is such a gas factory that it seems difficult to know whether it is Vars or Risoul who is right,” a source explains. the situation up close.
Is the mayor of Vars preparing to denounce the said agreement obtained by forceps in April 2023? According to our information, there is no question of this. Five years before the Winter Olympics in the French Alps, a closure of the link between Vars and Risoul against the backdrop of a trade war would send a destructive message to the mountain world, which must play the unity card.
Annoyed by the guillestrian psychodrama two seasons ago, Renaud Muselier had threatened to no longer pay a cent of subsidy in the event of a blockage. If war were to break out again between Vars and Risoul, an entire valley would attract the wrath of the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, an essential financier of supporting numerous projects in the region. .
In the fall of 2022, Dominique Laudré did not hesitate to denounce the previous agreement which linked SEM-Sedev to Labellemontagne for the exploitation of the White Forest. The connection between Vars and Risoul remained closed, plunging hoteliers, restaurateurs, traders and skiers into deep incomprehension.
After months of negotiations, slamming doors and heated meetings, the two parties managed to reach an agreement. A new agreement was finally ratified in May 2023. A year and a half later, this piece of paper on which hundreds of jobs in Guillestrois depend, seems about to resurface some old erasures.
