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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, industrial firms controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to government disclosures released this week, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly requested government assistance in October. This appeal comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, partly due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Company Statements

Most the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos spokesperson added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it as one of the most productive chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. British industry has had a brutal year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. If we don't produce these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from surging energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

It has also been reported that Ineos has previously received substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.