STOCKHOLM, Feb. 8 - Stockholm-based Swedbank AB Wednesday said it has agreed to buy TAS-Kommerzbank in Ukraine for $735 million in a move to expand its operations in Eastern Europe.

The payment for TAS includes an equity contribution of $50 million (euro65 million) at the closing of the deal, Swedbank said.

"TAS is yet another step to enhance growth for Swedbank following our success in the Baltic countries. Ukraine is an important tiger economy with impressive growth rate and positive development," Swedbank's Chairman Carl Eric Stalberg said in a statement.