On June 20, 2011, a wheelchair manufacturing facility commissioned by the Germany-based company Otto Bock that specializes in prosthetic devices began operating in the city of Togliatti in the Volga Federal District. The German company is utilizing a production facility formerly used by automaker AvtoVAZ. Russia’s Healthcare and Social Development Ministry, in addition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the regional government of Samara, assisted in the creation of the new enterprise. Initially, production capacity at the plant will be 20 000 wheelchair units. Production volumes will increase two times by the year 2014, company estimates show. The new wheelchair line is the first of its kind in Russia, as it would produce wheelchair units conforming to all applicable international standards.