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Before the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Financial Support

Based on official data released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

This support arrives after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the area and a political problem for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly requested government assistance in October. This appeal coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, partly due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

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 precise figures.

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

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire 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. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

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

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status as one of the most productive chemical plants in Europe and to safeguard 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 more polluting operations abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, indicated the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He explained 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 previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.