Uber distances itself from Yandex.Taxi, the Russian ride-sharing service.

Uber mentioned Monday that it was attempting to “speed up” its divestment from the Russian web firm Yandex, which operates a ride-hailing service in Russia, in gentle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The corporate additionally mentioned the three Uber executives serving on the board of Yandex.Taxi, Uber’s ride-sharing partnership with Yandex, would resign instantly and get replaced by a consultant who would oversee the divestment.

“In gentle of current occasions, we’re actively on the lookout for alternatives to speed up the sale of our remaining holdings and, within the meantime, will take away our executives from the board of the three way partnership,” Uber mentioned in a press release.

Yandex officers couldn’t be instantly reached for touch upon Monday. Earlier within the day, the New York Inventory Change halted buying and selling of Yandex shares.

Uber struck a partnership with Yandex in 2017, aiming to finish a pricey battle between the competing companies, and took a stake in its ride-sharing service. Final yr, the corporate divested itself of its holdings in Yandex’s supply and autonomous car items, offered a part of its stake in Yandex.Taxi, and agreed to permit Yandex to purchase its remaining Yandex.Taxi stake, which is 29 p.c.

On Monday, the corporate mentioned it could intention to promote these remaining shares, most lately valued at $800 million, extra rapidly.

Uber’s effort to distance itself from the Russian search large comes as corporations and governments world wide are working to chop Russia off from the worldwide financial system, by means of sanctions and different means.