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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, industrial firms under the ownership of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Recent Disclosures and Financial Support

Based on official data released this week, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent 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, is understood to have requested government assistance in October. The request coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of 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 financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in return for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos representative stated the aid did not represent “favourable terms” 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 official statement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos spokesperson further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet everyone relies 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, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing 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, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.