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Prior to this week's £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.

Recent Revelations and Bailout Package

Based on government disclosures published recently, state aid 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 provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that without it the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context

This intervention comes following 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 challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly requested government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, partly due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's debt 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 Official Responses

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 exact amounts.

An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “special treatment” 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 official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative further stated: “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 protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these essential materials in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, 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 “intense strain” from surging 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, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.