Ray Bulgarin

Rodislav Bulgarin is a character in Grand Theft Auto IV. He is a Russian mobster who lives in the Mediterranean, apparently in a large mansion overlooking the Adriatic Sea. He ran a smuggling operation there and employed Niko Bellic. Bellic worked for Bulgarin for many years, used to murder men and smuggle people into Italy from Eastern Europe. During one such run, Niko was stopped by the authorities and forced to abandon the ship, swimming for his life. The ship was seized, and Bulgarin blamed Niko for the loss, demanding restitution. Bellic left Europe to hide out in America.

Eventually, Bulgarin made his way to America as well. Arriving in Liberty City, Bulgarin entered a partnership with Dimitri Rascalov and eventually found Niko Bellic was working for Rascalov. Dimitri offered Niko to Bulgarin without hesitating as a token of friendship. However, Niko escaped the ambush and Bulgarin worked hard to track him down. At one point Bulgarin kidnapped Niko's cousin Roman to lure Niko into a trap, but Niko rescued his cousin and escaped again. Their final meeting was on Charge Island, where Niko and his friend Patrick McReary escaped another ambush. Bulgarin was not seen again.

Mysterious Disappearance
Following the story line's completion the Police database lists Bulgarin as dead, although no details are given, however Dimitri may have had something to do with it. Dimitri may have killed Bulgarin as an act of betrayal to assure his connections to other bosses to further strengthen his crime family. If one were to however take a visit to a local Tw@ computer cafe and observe the criminal database, Bulgarin is listed as "Deceased" even before being encountered by Niko in the "Russian Revolution" mission. He possibly faked his own death to evade higher authorities and Interpol after his smuggling operation went awry.

Another plausible scenario is that Bulgarin may have been killed by Luis Fernando Lopez, a man speculated to be the protagonist in the second downloadable episode of GTA IV. One variable that supports this is that Bulgarin's final appearance in GTA IV was also coincidentally Luis's final appearance. After Bulgarin ordered his men to attack Niko and Packie, he made his escape, not to mention that Luis, Gay Tony and a recently kidnapped and returned Gracie Ancelotti mysteriously vanished from the scene as well. It is quite possible that in this haste Luis hunted down and killed Bulgarin.

There is some confusion as to his nationality; he may be Bulgarian, as Bulgarin means "native of Bulgaria" in various languages and an artwork released with the game that shows a man that looks a lot like Bulgarin holding a molotov cocktail is labeled as 'Bulgarian Molotov' on the Rockstar Social Club website. Niko however seems to allude to him being a Russian at several points in the story.