Russian shares plunge

"There is going to be a lot of consolidation and failures, but none of the major players. This is what you'd normally see going into the trough of a downward business cycle," said Gilman. "It's hard to see how this is going to have a significant slow-down effect on the total economy, unless something else happens."

But with global markets in turmoil, the business of making projections becomes more difficult.

On paper, at least, Russia should be in a strong position.

Oil prices are still historically high, there is still room for business growth in many Russian regions and the country has an enviable financial cushion to withstand an economic shock.

Analysts say these combined should be enough to lure investors. On the other hand, there are no investors to be found.

"It's hard to see what will break this cycle" of falling Russian stock markets, said Alfa's Smith. "The problem is that people are having to revisit their fundamental underlying assumptions--as to what economic growth is going to be, inflation (will be). ... When everything is based on quicksand, nobody really knows what the final answer is going to be."