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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Financial Support

According to government disclosures released recently, public funding to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has received a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would lose its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context

This support arrives following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the area and a challenge for the government.

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

In a sign of growing unease over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax relief in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.

An Ineos representative stated the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos spokesperson 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 safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

It has also been reported that Ineos has previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.