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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Recent Revelations and Financial Support

According to government disclosures published recently, public funding to the Ineos group in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that without it the UK would lose its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly requested government assistance in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Nature of Aid and Company Statements

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and CO2 output.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and open to any UK business that qualifies.”

While Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos representative added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from surging energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

It has also been reported that Ineos has in the past obtained significant tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.