KIEV, October 14 (RAPSI) – Residents of Ukrainian territories engaged in ongoing hostilities won’t be subject to fines for falling behind the utility payments, RIA Novosti reports on Tuesday citing regional development minister Andrei Belousov.

Earlier, president Petro Poroshenko signed a  law that imposed a temporary hold on fining the behinf utility payments for residents of Donbass region, now in throes of military action.

The fines are thus suspended from April 14 2014, until the “counter-terrorist” action is suspended, the ministry’s press service said.

During the summer, the military action forced many commercial banks, as well as National Bank of Ukraine and State Treasury to suspend their operations in the Donetsk region. Many residents lost their ability to perform financial transactions, which include utility payments.

An armed conflict in Ukraine's southeast began in April when Kiev launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed federalization supporters in the region. Almost 3,700 people have been killed and over 8,800 have been wounded since the start of the operation, according to a UN report published on Friday.