YEKATERINBURG, November 3. /TASS/. Permission for construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline was not critical for the project to be implemented, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a televised interview with Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya’1 channel on Sunday.

"We had been waiting for Denmark’s permission for long. It was very important but not vital for the project. The project would have been done without that," he said.

Peskov pointed out that Nord Stream 2 is a commercially viable project for European countries, which "can make a very significant contribution to energy security and the diversification of reliable gas supply to Europe."

"It is not some sort of an energy harness on Europe’s neck," he added.

Earlier, the Danish Energy Agency granted permission to the company Nord Stream 2 AG to lay part of the pipeline Nord Stream-2 on Denmark’s continental shelf southeast of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The company said the preparations and the pipe laying operation would begin in Denmark within weeks.

At this point Nord Stream 2’s readiness is more than 80%. The estimated date of completing the construction work is the end of 2019. Earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that it would take five weeks following the moment the Danish authorities issued their permission to lay the pipeline across the Danish waters.