THE UK Government’s decision to back a foreign Ineos project to the tune of £600 million while ruling out state support for Grangemouth has been branded “baffling”.
Unite has demanded ministers explain why Ienos owner Jim Ratcliffe – who part owns the Grangemouth oil refinery – has received substantial state backing for plans to build a petrochemical plant in Belgium.
The union has said the Government should stump up cash to support Grangemouth, Scotland’s only oil refinery and one of just six in the UK.
It emerged last year that owners Petroineos – a joint venture by Ratcliffe’s firm and PetroChina – are seeking to close the refinery and repurpose the site as a fuel import hub, which could result in the loss of around 400 jobs.
And last month The Guardian reported that the UK Government is providing a £600m guarantee for Ineos to build Project One in Antwerp, which will import fracked shale gas from the US for the creation of ethylene, which is the building block of plastic.
Unite’s Scottish secretary Derek Thomson described the UK Government’s decision to treat Grangemouth differently from the Belgian project as “absolutely baffling”.
He told The National: “Unite is not requesting any special treatment for the Petroineos refinery workers. We are asking for similar treatment by the UK Government to that which they have given to other strategically important workplaces across the UK.
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“The Grangemouth complex is of enormous strategic importance to the Scottish economy and UK energy security.
“The fact that the UK Government has provided a £600m guarantee for Ineos to help support the expansion of its Belgium operations but has not found a single penny to help support an extension in the lifespan of the oil refinery is absolutely baffling.”
He added: “Unite is crystal clear that the UK Government has a major role to play in helping to safeguard the livelihoods of hundreds of highly skilled workers at Grangemouth but to date they have not brought forward one single idea or proposal to help support the workforce.
“Unite’s members nor the wider community will ever forgive politicians for their failure to act and we will hold them to account.”
The UK Government has previously ruled out state support for the facility and has said it is “unlikely” to consider lifting a cap on biofuels, which some see as a barrier to saving jobs.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “UK Export Finance helps UK businesses to win, deliver and get paid for overseas contracts.
"Our financing guarantee for Project One has been offered on commercial terms to secure export opportunities to this overseas project for a number of UK companies.”
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