The Scottish Government is in discussion with potential buyers for the troubled Grangemouth oil refinery, the Finance Secretary has confirmed.
John Swinney warned that the dispute between current owner Ineos and the Unite union was heading for a stalemate and said “alternative options” were being considered.
Speaking after two-thirds of workers at the refinery refused to accept new terms and conditions as part of a survival plan for the site’s future, Mr Swinney said he believed there would be a buyer for the site.
“I don’t think it will come as any surprise to anybody that the Scottish Government is looking at alternative options and there will be other players around the globe who will be interested in this particular plant,” he said.
“There are discussions that are under way which are going on with other parties. The Scottish Government will continue to pursue those discussions because we think that is the right and the responsible thing to do.”
Mr Swinney dismissed any idea of Government ownership of the site as “not appropriate”.
“We are in a situation where the plant is operating successfully within the marketplace and it can work and operate more successfully in the market place,” he said.
He urged Ineos to accept a trade union statement that there would be no strike action during negotiations at “face value”.
“I can see no good reason for the plant lying idle today and I think it should be started as a matter of urgency,” he said.
“The danger of the situation that I think we are in just now is that we are heading for a stalemate and in a situation of stalemate someone has to move to get things on the go.”
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “The First Minister is absolutely correct to raise the prospect of changed ownership at Grangemouth. Unite will support him in whatever way we can to ensure a secure future for Grangemouth and its working community.
“Jim Ratcliffe’s (the founder and chairman of Ineos) behaviour has exposed a dreadful frailty at the heart of our energy supply, which is that one man’s power and wealth can hold our governments and citizens to ransom.
“Our politicians need now to step up. Our public utilities cannot be run by those indifferent to considerations of social responsibility.
“Unite calls upon politicians in Edinburgh and Westminster to support a new beginning for Grangemouth, free of the tyranny of one man’s whims.
“If this means securing financial assistance or even nationalisation then this must be done. We can have no objections from Westminster when they have handed our nuclear energy future over to the state-owned Chinese and French nuclear industries.”