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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on government disclosures published recently, public funding to the Ineos group in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company 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 manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown 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 huge blow to the area and a political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government help in October. The request comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

The majority of the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax relief in exchange for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and CO2 output.” 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 “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy 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 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 protect skilled jobs. British industry has had a very difficult 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, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost overall 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 rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show 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 leave the EU.