By Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Gabriel Araujo

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Power advisor Adriano Pires has backed out of the Brazilian authorities’s nomination for him to take the helm at Petrobras, the nation’s Mines and Power Ministry stated on Monday, within the newest blow to succession plans on the state-run oil firm.

“It was clear to me that I couldn’t reconcile my consulting work with the train of Petrobras’ command,” Pires wrote in a letter revealed by the ministry on its web site.

Pires’ choice to show down the chief government job got here a day after soccer magnate Rodolfo Landim declined a nomination to chair the board of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the corporate is formally recognized.

Pires had been tapped by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to take over as the highest government of Petrobras on March 28, following disagreements between the far-right chief and present CEO Joaquim Silva e Luna over the corporate’s gas pricing coverage.

The federal government will now want to search out appropriate replacements for the 2 high spots at Petrobras simply days earlier than the corporate’s April 13 annual shareholders’ assembly.

Pires’ choice to again out from the CEO job was reported earlier on Monday by Brazil’s O Globo newspaper. Most popular shares in Petrobras fell 1% after the O Globo article was revealed, however later recouped their losses.

Pires’ nomination had been dealing with inner compliance-related hurdles at Petrobras, as his consultancy, Rio de Janeiro-based CBIE, advises firms that do enterprise with Petrobras, two sources with information of the matter had beforehand instructed Reuters.

An inner compliance committee had additionally advisable in opposition to Landim’s turning into the following chairman on conflict-of-interest grounds, stated the sources, who requested anonymity to debate personal inner deliberations.

Reached for remark, Landim stated that he determined to withdraw from the board nomination as a way to dedicate all his power to Flamengo, the Rio de Janeiro soccer membership he leads.

In a observe to shoppers, analysts at Brazil’s Itau BBA maintained their “outperform” score on Petrobras shares given what they described as robust fundamentals, however stated uncertainty on the high would create detrimental noise.

“This uncertainty concerning the nominees to the chairman and CEO positions, arising so quickly earlier than the corporate’s subsequent normal shareholders’ assembly, will probably set off some volatility within the inventory this week,” the analysts wrote.