In 2008,niko bellic, an Eastern war veteran and former human trafficker, arrives in aboard a cargo ship called the , for multiple reasons: to avoid an , find the man who sold out his during the war, and reunite with his cousin , who invited him to come to the city in the first place, and in his letters told him that he was living a life full of riches, women, sports cars, mansions and luxury. However, as soon as he arrives and meets with Roman, he that all of his cousin's stories were lies: in reality, Roman lives in and runs . Niko begins working for Roman's company, soon meeting his girlfriend , who him to her friend , whom he quickly . Niko also discovers that Roman is heavily in debt and has problems with the loan sharks. He protects him on several occasions, eventually , the head of the in , after he and his associates attack Roman.
Continuing working for Roman, Niko soon , the underboss of the and a good friend of Roman's, whom he helps in dealing with several rival drug dealers, with the pair soon becoming good friends; it is also Jacob that Niko obtains his first weapon from. Niko later meets , Roman's Russian loan shark, who gives him several debt-collecting jobs to keep Roman from sinking into debt. In Vlad's, Niko is tasked with killing Vlad's associate , but he may choose to spare his life instead (being the first character in the game whose fate can be chosen).
Later, Niko that Vlad had slept with Mallorie and him. Afterwards, he reveals to Roman his real quest in Liberty City: to find and kill the man who betrayed his old unit. Shortly after, Niko and Roman are by and , the leaders of the Russian Mafia in Broker and Vlad's superiors. Faustin is shown to be an absolute hothead, but is not bothered by Vlad's murdered and ends up releasing the pair and employing Niko for several jobs. During his work for Faustin, Niko by Roman to his friend and the . He Brucie, along with , but eventually quits working for him, although the two remain good friends.
Most of Niko's jobs for Faustin involve attacks against , Liberty City's most powerful mobster. After Petrovic threatens to retaliate, Niko later meets with Dimitri privately, who explains that he needs to kill Faustin to make amends with Petrovic. Out of options, Niko Faustin, after being promised to be paid for the hit by Dimitri. However, when Niko Dimitri at a warehouse to collect his money, Dimitri betrays Niko and sells him out to his friend and fellow Russian crime lord , Niko's former employer and the same man that he came to Liberty City to escape from. Niko escapes from the ambush with Little Jacob's help, but Dimitri's men soon both Roman's taxi service and apartment in retaliation.
