MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russia’s main New Year tree that will adorn the Kremlin for the upcoming winter holidays has been cut down in the Shchyolkovo district outside Moscow, a TASS correspondent reported on Tuesday.

The 90-year-old tree was chosen this year in the village of Novopareevo out of dozens of other "contestants," Presidential Property Department Spokesperson Elena Krylova earlier told TASS. The tree is about 28 meters tall and the span of its lower branches is some ten meters.

"This is the 22nd time we are cutting down a fir tree and placing it on the Moscow Kremlin’s Cathedral Square. <...> This year, as tradition has it, we started picking the tree in April and scrutinized 37 fir trees," Deputy Head of the Russian President’s Administrative Directorate’s maintenance service Anatoly Kochanov revealed.

According to him, the "contestants" vying for the status of the country’s chief fir tree, undergo a careful selection procedure and must conform to a number of key parameters, including height, age and the span of branches.

"The fir tree should be about 100 years old. Each requirement is explained by the fact that for example, a fir tree aged 100 is nearing the end of its life and so we select it in order to do less damage to the environment," Kochanov clarified.

Tomorrow, the tree will be readied for transportation to the Kremlin. It is expected to be delivered to the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square through the Spasskaya Tower in a few days. The tree will be decorated and presented to reporters on the premises of the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square on December 22.