BRUSSELS, March 29 – Andriy Kobolev, the chairman of the board of Naftogaz Ukrayiny, is confident that after Denmark's refusal to agree on the passage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, its operation will not start in the period announced by the Russian side, on January 1, 2020.

"Now, after what recently happened in Denmark, it cannot be denied that this is another big delay [of putting the pipeline into operation]. It is obvious that the last route that the consortium [for the construction of the gas pipeline] hoped for will not be launched in the near future. This means that this pipe will not be able to supply gas to Europe from January 1, 2020," Kobolev said during a conference on the security of gas supplies to Europe in Brussels.