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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Financial Support

According to government disclosures released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has obtained a total of £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, concerned that without it the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the area and a political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government assistance in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, in part due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's 2022 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 had to commit 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 Company Statements

The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson said the aid did not constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

While Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, 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,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

The Ineos spokesperson further stated: “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. 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 imported instead, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost overall performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced 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 substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.