MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - French oil company Total said Tuesday it would begin transferring to Russia the revenues from an oil deposit in northern European Russia this week.

However, the company's press release did not specify the amount of the transaction.

The move came a day after a statement was issued by the Russian natural resources ministry saying that Total was not meeting its targets under a production-sharing agreement on the development of the Kharyaga deposit.

"Since the [production-sharing] agreement came into force, the investor has failed to fulfill its main aims of increasing production of crude and introducing new technologies and equipment to provide for effective oil and gas production," the ministry said.

Ministry experts warned that the situation could result in losses for Russia, as the country "will have to continue sending the entire deposit's output to the investor in compensation for his expenses."

Total has been developing the Kharyaga deposit under a production-sharing agreement signed in 1995 that came into force on January 1, 1999.

Total owns a 50% stake in the project, alongside Norway's Hydro (40%) and Russia's Nenets Oil Company (10%).

The ministry said Total's pre-planned oil production for 2006 was over two thirds less than the projected level for the deposit.

Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev sent a letter to Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, who oversees the implementation of the Kharyaga agreement, documenting the violations by the French company and its non-compliance with the projected tasks for the development of the deposit.