ODESA, Sept 22 - Former deputy prime minister Serhiy Tigipko, who owns and leads TAS Group, may acquire VS Bank, a subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank in Ukraine, a central bank official said.

Yekateryna Rozhkova, deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, said the NBU had given its preliminary approva for the acquisition.

"We did receive a package of documents for the purchase of VS Bank. We are at the final stage of analysis. The preliminary analysis shows this transaction is possible," she told Interfax-Ukraine.