The unloading of 139 tonnes of disinfectant and a smaller quantity of masks to combat the Covid-19 epidemic, which arrived by ship from Shanghai, began in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka on Thursday.

The cargo which arrived aboard the Ever Excel was procured from the Chinese companies Sinopharm and MEHECO.

The protective equipment will be collected by the Civil Protection Directorate and distributed to the relevant bodies, the government said in a press release.

The shipment is worth €1.2 million and it was paid from European funds. The goods were bought by the government with the mediation of the buffer stocks directorate and the help of the Croatian Embassy to China.