KIEV, March 21 - Ukraine on Wednesday held its first ever auction among foreign companies to sell power for exports to the European Union marking a change of the way such exports will now be handled.

Energy Capital ZRt, a Hungarian company, outbid four other foreign companies to buy 218.4 million kilowatt-hour of power for exports from Ukraine to the E.U., according to UkrInterEnergo, the state power exporter. The power must be exported between April 1 and July 1.

Ukraine, a major exporter of power to Central Europe, including to Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, has been so far selling power according to long-term contracts at lower-then market prices.

But the auction shows the government has been seeking to change that practice in favor of selling the power to a company that would submit the highest bid.