Three people have been wounded and 16 arrested after a shootout outside Kiev between gangs linked to rival bus companies, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. "Up to 100 people" were involved in the exchange of fire in Brovary, ten kilometres (eight miles) outside of the capital, interior ministry spokesperson Artem Shevchenko told AFP. The shooting broke out as a result of disagreements between the competing companies over the allocation of bus routes, deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said, adding that three people has sustained gunshot injuries. The Attorney General's office said that an "arsenal of firearms and knives" was seized at the site of the shooting. Ex-Soviet Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe and its economy is marred by corruption. There are a large number of weapons in the country as a result of Kiev's ongoing war against Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country. Seven people were shot and killed last week during an alcohol-fuelled fishing trip in central Ukraine. dg/jbr/pma