Bosses of drinks firm Diageo have been told that they must leave a "positive legacy" in the communities affected by the closure of their sites in Glasgow and Kilmarnock.
The firm announced in July that it planned to shut its Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock and its Port Dundas grain distillery in Glasgow, threatening 900 jobs.
A campaign was mounted to try to save the jobs, with alternative proposals drawn up by a task force involving the Scottish Government, local councils, trade unions and Scottish Enterprise, which would have seen work continue at Port Dundas and a new site created in Kilmarnock.
However Diageo bosses last week rejected the proposals, claiming they failed to "deliver a business model that would be good for either Diageo or Scotland".
But speking in the Scottish Parliament, Finance Secretary John Swinney said the key issues now are to provide support for the workers losing their jobs, as well as regenerating the affected sites.
He said: "We owe it to the individuals and communities affected to work to mitigate the impacts that Diageo's decision will have.
"I do fundamentally believe that Diageo have not properly appreciated the real impacts which the job losses will have.
"The impact will not just be on the communities and individuals but will represent costs that the public sector will be expected to pick up - costs which the consultants EKOS estimated to be in the range of £7million to £14million a year."
Mr Swinney added that the task force would continue to meet, saying: "A key issue for the taskforce will be to manage engagement with Diageo. We must ensure their support towards regeneration activities. The Government will be working with all energy to ensure that takes place.
"The regeneration agenda is an issue which has to be addressed by Diageo as a due recognition of their responsibilities to the communities that have contributed to the company and its development over so many years.
"They must leave behind a positive legacy, they must meet their responsibilities to their employees and ensure the sites are restored and available for new use."
The company says that although there will be job losses in Glasgow and Kilmarnock, there will be 400 new jobs created at its plant in Fife
