Ron Bousso and Ross Kerber

(Reuters) – A steady stream of Western corporations are expected to leave Russia on Tuesday as investors and corporations across all industries follow the example of energy companies BP (NYSE) and Shell(LON) which abandoned positions worth multi-billions of dollars after the invasion.

Many leading banks, airlines and auto manufacturers have stopped shipments and ended partnership agreements with Russia. Others indicated that they are considering taking action.

“I would expect to see a slew of similar announcements over the next few days,” Sonia Kowal, president of Zevin Asset Management in Boston, said on Monday, adding that divestment by Norway’s big sovereign wealth fund would support the move.

Some U.S.-based investors are vocal about setting expectations for companies.

“We need to send a very clear and unequivocal response that California will not stand for Russia’s aggression,” California Treasurer Fiona Ma said on Monday in statement declaring support for divesting Russian assets from the state’s pension funds, some of the largest in the United States.

Betty Yee was the controller for California. She took a wait-and-see attitude.

Russia was hit hard by the West, which has taken a variety of actions to sanction Russia, such as closing down airspace and excluding certain Russian banks from SWIFT, and limiting Moscow’s ability use $630 billion worth of foreign reserves.

Shell, BP, and Norway’s Equinor have all stated that they will exit Russia-rich energy projects. This puts pressure on Western companies holding stakes in Russian oil & gas projects like ExxonMobil, NYSE:), and TotalEnergies.

Many businesses are considering other options. Shipper Maersk said Monday that it is monitoring the sanctions against Russia and was preparing for compliance. One scenario included suspending cargo bookings.

Major truck and auto manufacturers have stopped exporting to Russia. Volvo and GM are the only two major companies that sell Russian vehicles. Ford Motor (NYSE):, which holds a 50% interest in three Russian plants has not provided any details beyond saying that it is looking to minimize the impact on operations and ensure safety for workers.

Asset managers and companies looking to sell stakes are faced with obstacles because of the many trade halts on exchanges.

Shares of some Western companies that have a significant exposure to Russia are already falling. Finnair, which is based in Russia’s neighbor Finland, saw its share value drop by a fifth after it pulled its 2022 outlook due to airspace closings.

After the Moscow and European Union issued airspace bans, airlines are now bracing themselves for long-term blockages on east-west flight corridors.

While the White House has yet to decide whether to ban Russian flights from its airspace, Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, stated that there are many U.S. flights over Russia. She also noted that the White House considers a wide range of factors.

Dick Durbin was the U.S. Senate’s second highest ranking Democrat and he supported a ban.

He said that other countries had done the same in Europe, and that it was not a bad idea to turn the lights on at the airport for those men.

Tech companies have been juggling requests to suspend Russian services while simultaneously pursuing a mission to voice dissent or protest.

Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook (NASDAQ):, has decided to restrict Russian state media outlets RT, and Sputnik from its platforms in the European Union. The company’s global affairs head said Monday that this was similar to other U.S. tech giants.