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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies under the ownership of tycoon Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Recent Revelations and Bailout Package

According to official data published this week, public funding to the Ineos group in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical raw material 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 support arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent 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, reportedly asked for government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Official Responses

The majority of the previous state aid came in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and CO2 output.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against 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 separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies 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,” arguing they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Environmental Pledges

The Ineos spokesperson added: “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. British industry has had a very difficult year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these essential materials in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, 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 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.

Records show that Ineos has in the past obtained substantial tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.