Dozens of children from the capital city crowded today the Christmas tree site in front of the City Hall to see Santa Claus himself, who came to Moldova from Lapland on a charity visit. The Finnish Santa distributed autographed Christmas cards, posed with the kids for pictures next to the tree, and listened to Romanian traditional well-wishing recitals performed by a folk band, Info-Prim Neo reports. The children followed Santa into the City Hall building where he was supposed to show up for a news conference. There, he said he was very happy to be in Moldova, and so were the children, to whom his presence seemed to have brought much joy. Santa Claus voiced hope that his first visit would mark the beginning of a nice tradition, adding that he would be pleased to come to Chisinau each year to bring gifts to children in orphanages. Santa avoided revealing the content of the presents that he had brought to the Moldovan children, saying is was a surprise. Though Santa knows all the languages in the world, he preferred Finnish today. At the City Hall, he met the Moldovan Father Christmas, dressed in a blue coat and wearing a tricolour ribbon in red, yellow and blue on his hat. The reason why Santa arrived in Chisinau in mid-January is that he was busy receiving guests at his residence in Lapland. During this winter season, children and grownups from all over the world flew on 250 planes to see Santa in Lapland. Santa Claus says he is almost 100 years old, while Missis Santa is so old that she cannot accompany him during his journeys. His family also includes elves, who are helping him with the mail. Each child writing to Santa on his correct address (Santa Claus Office, 96930, Article Circle, Finland) will undoubtedly receive a present. Usually, children use several pages to describe what they wish, and, what is more, grownups started to write letters, too, Santa Claus says. Santa himself gets presents from the children, which he keeps in a museum. In the remaining period of his stay in Moldova, Santa Claus will visit several orphanages and the winery Milestii Mici. Santa says he will take a bottle of Moldovan wine with him to light up these long winter nights. Even though he doesn’t usually make private visits, today Santa Claus visited two disabled children – a four-year-old girl in Gratiesti and a little boy in Chisinau. Santa Claus noted that he was deeply impressed by these children, hoping that besides presents, he managed to bring joy and hope in their hearts. Santa Claus came to Chisinau on the invitation of the Moldova-Finland Friendship Association, with the support of the Bucharest-based Finnish Embassy. During his visit, Santa Claus will not meet any government officials.