70s Oil Crisis, Foreign Debt, and Break Up of USSR

[Rimbaud]

I've been reading a couple of books related to the fall of the USSR recently and in both of them, it seems like rising foreign indebtedness was a big part of the economic problems in the 80s (e.g. it played a part in the austerity measures that Solidarity emerged as a response to in Poland and seems to be part of the reason for Gorbachev wanting to end the Cold War so he could reduce military spending). However, frustratingly it isn't explained why foreign debt levels were rising, which seems strange as it appears to be one of the key factors in Soviet decline.

In one of these, it is alluded to that the Soviet Bloc began taking on foreign loans as a consequence of the oil crisis in the 1970s. But I'm not sure how this works - surely the higher price of oil at that time would have benefited Russia which became a major exporter of oil and gas around that time?

Could anyone explain how these are connected, or perhaps direct me towards some books about Soviet economic problems?

 

[yield]

Did a quick search and this abstract, though i don't have access, sounds plausible. Are the Journal of Cold War Studies reliable? Someone else will probably know better.

The Soviet Union, CMEA, and the Energy Crisis of the 1970s
Journal of Cold War Studies December 01 2020
Abstract

Numerous scholars have claimed that the Soviet Union was a primary beneficiary of the 1973–1974 oil crisis. Drawing on archival evidence from Russia and Germany, this article challenges that interpretation, showing that the oil crisis forced Soviet policymakers to confront the limits of their energy industry and the effects of the crisis on their East European allies.

Demand for Soviet energy outpaced production, forcing Soviet officials to weigh their need to compensate for economic shortcomings at home against their role as the guarantor of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. The Soviet decision to raise prices within the Council on Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the Soviet Union's inability to fulfill demand across CMEA compelled the East European governments to purchase oil from Middle Eastern countries at increasing world market prices, crippling their balance of payments and accentuating their other economic shortcomings.

Which helps to explain some of the economic problems of the Soviet Union during the 1980s oil glut, as so many resources had been diverted to ramp up production.

I'm getting Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union by Vladislav M. Zubok for Christmas.