NOVOSIBIRSK, November 14. /TASS/.Children and adults aged between7 and 90 keep sending their New Year wishes to Russian Father Frost requesting gifts for themselves and their loved ones. Among the most weird wishes are marriage, lower mortgage interest rates and a treasure hunter metal detector, Grandfather Frost, Russia’s equivalent of Father Christmas, said at the TASS press center in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on Tuesday.

"A child asks: ‘Grandfather Frost, I need a shovel and a treasure hunter metal detector’. He seems to know something that we don’t know. Traditionally I am asked to pay off a loan or to at least scale down the interest rate. Or listen, here is something else funny - ‘Mom has already bought what I ordered from you, that is why you can contribute with money,’" he said. "It seems that I will start getting credit card numbers in a while," the magician joked.

However, no one has asked for bitcoins as of yet. "No, so far I am not asked for them, but I am sure time will come," he remarked.

Those who can write, write letters, while kids dictate. "I have started getting emails from people in their 60s and older, and I’ve always got letters from absolutely different age groups. Those who are three years old and those who are 23 have different things that are not working out. I am hinting at what girls complain of when they ask for their ‘other half’ - "Grandfather, give us men who are independent and not put-upon, who are able of taking independent decisions," he went on. "It looks like we are having problems in the country," the magician smiled.

Russia’s Grandfather Frost has for a while left his headquarters in Velikiy Ustyug, the Vologda region, leaving for a tour of the country on November 1. Within the framework of a charity event with NTV Television, he will visit 29 Russian cities. In Novosibirsk, he will visit social institutions for children to hand in presents. November 15 will see a concert in central Novosibirsk. -0-zhe/.