The woodcut New Year pictures are usually put up on windows or walls five days before the New Year's Day to express good wishes for the coming year.

We like to celebrate the new year like everybody else. Everybody will be kept in house and in great order, as well. But we want to have fun. We have plenty of time to enjoy it.

Many veteran craftsmen gave up their jobs of making New Year pictures in previous hard years.

People like to decorate their homes with lots of symbols for the new year, in the hope of a good year ahead.

We say that the new year is a revered moment, a sacred time in Islam. People normally do not take off work or school, but at night there usually are programs in the mosques that many people attend. After prayers, the imams will talk about the significance of this month for all Muslims.

I wish you a happy New Year, ... I wish you happiness, all the very best. I want you to know that Russia highly appreciates what you are doing.