DONETSK, June 16. /ITAR-TASS/. The payment and settlement system has been temporarily shut down in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Ukraine’s National Bank (NBU) said in a press release on Monday.

“On June 16, a group of armed people seized the building of the National Bank's branch in the Donetsk Region taking all the communications tools, including mobile phones, from the staff,” the statement said. “As these actions pose a threat to people’s lives and prevent the branch from fulfilling its tasks, its operations have been suspended and the system of payments and settlements in the region has been temporarily shut down.”

A working group headed by NBU Deputy CEO Yakov Smoliy was set up to coordinate the work to solve the problem, the NBU said.

Earlier on Monday, the government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine said that it had taken under control the office of Ukraine’s tax inspection and the NBU's regional branch in the Donetsk Region.

“We have taken them under control as money collected on the territory of the people’s republic, including through the tax inspection, went to Kiev,” a spokesman said.

“Enterprises that work in the people's republic must pay taxes to its budget,” he said.

Earlier, Donetsk Mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko reported in a statement on his website that unidentified armed people had entered the building of the NBU branch in the Donetsk Region.