MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia’s main New Year tree that was delivered from the Moscow Region has been installed and decorated at the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, a TASS correspondent reports.

This year, the country's main fir tree is decorated following a winter forest theme from a Russian folktale. Decorative beads and gold-and silver-colored toys of various shapes prevail among the decorations.

"The toys are made of special lightweight materials. They have a pearly or shiny covering in order for the fir tree to look festive during snowfalls, cold spells or any other weather. <…> This year the Moscow Kremlin is open, people will come here for festivities during New Year’s holidays and for exhibits. So all our guests will be able to admire the fir tree," Presidential Property Department Spokesperson Elena Krylova told journalists.

She added that a decision was made to repeat last year’s decorations this year because due to the epidemiological situation a year ago not everyone was able to see the Kremlin’s New Year tree.

The country’s main New Year tree is decorated with light garlands and 38 LED balls. In all, more than 1,100 decorations are used, with 360 of them handmade according to individual designs specifically for this project. Top students of one of Moscow’s colleges traditionally participate in decorating the tree. This year, the tree was decorated by ten students from the Maksimchuk Technical Fire and Rescue College.

The selection of "candidates" for Russia’s main New Year tree began in May and was completed in November. The winner, a 90-year-old tree from the Shchyolkovo district outside Moscow, was selected among 37 contestants. It meets all of the so-called ‘Kremlin standards’: the tree is between 90 and 100 years old, about 30 meters high, and has the right shape and the proper color.

For the first time, a real fir tree was installed on Cathedral Square within the Kremlin’s walls in December 1996 at then Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s initiative. Due to severe frost in 2001-2005, which prevented the tree’s delivery, it was replaced with an artificial one. In 2005-2006, fir trees were brought from Veliky Ustyug, the homeland of Russian New Year gift-bringer Father Frost. Since 2007, the fir trees have been delivered from the Moscow Region.