diff --git a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/__init__.py b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/__init__.py
index d23f23ab0e23..fe8f5a314404 100644
--- a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/__init__.py
+++ b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/__init__.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
     group.addoption('--ydb-grpc-port', type=int, help='YDB grpc host')
     group.addoption('--ydb-mon-port', type=int, help='YDB mon host')
     group.addoption('--ydb-ic-port', type=int, help='YDB ic host')
+    group.addoption('--ydb-wait-time', type=int, default=30, help='YDB container startup wait timeout in seconds (0 = no wait)')
 
 
 def pytest_configure(config):
diff --git a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/scripts/service-ydb b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/scripts/service-ydb
index d3a15f8b2ce3..288d7918b422 100755
--- a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/scripts/service-ydb
+++ b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/scripts/service-ydb
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ fi
 if [ "x$YDB_DOCKER_IMAGE" = "x" ]; then
     die "YDB_DOCKER_IMAGE must be set"
 fi
+if [ "x$YDB_WAIT_TIME"  = "x" ]; then
+    die "YDB_WAIT_TIME must be set"
+fi
+if [ "$YDB_WAIT_TIME" -lt 0 ] 2>/dev/null; then
+    die "YDB_WAIT_TIME must be >= 0, but got $YDB_WAIT_TIME"
+fi
 
 YDB_DATA_DIR=$YDB_TMPDIR/data
 
@@ -48,6 +54,20 @@ start_ydb() {
             -e GRPC_PORT=$YDB_GRPC_PORT \
             -e MON_PORT=$YDB_MON_PORT \
             ${YDB_DOCKER_IMAGE}
+
+    if [ "$YDB_WAIT_TIME" -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "Waiting ${YDB_WAIT_TIME} seconds..."
+        for i in $(seq 1 "$YDB_WAIT_TIME"); do
+            if $DOCKER_BINPATH exec ${YDB_CONTAINER_NAME} test -f /ydb_database.txt 2>/dev/null; then
+                break
+            fi
+            sleep 1
+        done
+
+        if ! $DOCKER_BINPATH exec ${YDB_CONTAINER_NAME} test -f /ydb_database.txt 2>/dev/null; then
+            die "Timed out waiting for /ydb_database.txt in container ${YDB_CONTAINER_NAME}"
+        fi
+    fi
 }
 
 start() {
diff --git a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/service.py b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/service.py
index 50e08efe4f81..45df65764455 100644
--- a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/service.py
+++ b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/service.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 DEFAULT_MON_PORT = 8765
 DEFAULT_DATABASE = 'local'
 DEFAULT_CONTAINER_NAME = 'ydb-local-testsuite'
+# TODO (lemito): change to ydbplatform/local-ydb:latest 
 DEFAULT_DOCKER_IMAGE = 'cr.yandex/yc/yandex-docker-local-ydb:latest'
 
 PLUGIN_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ class ServiceSettings:
     mon_port: int
     ic_port: int
     database: str
+    wait_time: int = 30
 
 
 def create_ydb_service(
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ def create_ydb_service(
             'YDB_MON_PORT': str(settings.mon_port),
             'YDB_CONTAINER_NAME': DEFAULT_CONTAINER_NAME,
             'YDB_DOCKER_IMAGE': DEFAULT_DOCKER_IMAGE,
+            'YDB_WAIT_TIME': str(settings.wait_time),
             **(env or {}),
         },
         check_ports=[settings.grpc_port, settings.mon_port],
@@ -63,4 +66,5 @@ def get_service_settings():
         mon_port=utils.getenv_int('TESTSUITE_YDB_MON_PORT', DEFAULT_MON_PORT),
         ic_port=utils.getenv_int('TESTSUITE_YDB_IC_PORT', 0),
         database=os.getenv('TESTSUITE_YDB_DATABASE', DEFAULT_DATABASE),
+        wait_time=utils.getenv_int('TESTSUITE_YDB_WAIT_TIME', 30),
     )
diff --git a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/ydbsupport.py b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/ydbsupport.py
index 0264fdfd9069..60fc0c78948f 100644
--- a/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/ydbsupport.py
+++ b/testsuite/pytest_plugins/pytest_userver/plugins/ydb/ydbsupport.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
 import concurrent.futures
 import contextlib
+import dataclasses
 import os
 import pathlib
 import subprocess
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ def ydb_service_settings(pytestconfig) -> service.ServiceSettings:
             mon_port=None,
             ic_port=None,
             database=database,
+            wait_time=0,
         )
 
     if pytestconfig.option.ydb_host:
@@ -97,8 +99,10 @@ def ydb_service_settings(pytestconfig) -> service.ServiceSettings:
             mon_port=pytestconfig.option.ydb_mon_port,
             ic_port=pytestconfig.option.ydb_ic_port,
             database=database,
+            wait_time=pytestconfig.option.ydb_wait_time,
         )
-    return service.get_service_settings()
+    settings = service.get_service_settings()
+    return dataclasses.replace(settings, wait_time=pytestconfig.option.ydb_wait_time)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope='session')
diff --git a/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/migrations/00001_create_events_table.sql b/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/migrations/00001_create_events_table.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0626ca1d042f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/migrations/00001_create_events_table.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+-- +goose Up
+-- +goose StatementBegin
+CREATE TABLE events (
+    id String,
+    name Utf8,
+    service String,
+    channel Int64,
+    created Timestamp,
+    state Json,
+    PRIMARY KEY (id, name),
+    INDEX sample_index GLOBAL ON (service, channel, created)
+);
+-- +goose StatementEnd
+
+-- +goose Down
+-- +goose StatementBegin
+DROP TABLE events;
+-- +goose StatementEnd
diff --git a/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/schemas/events.yaml b/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/schemas/events.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 44b572a59265..000000000000
--- a/ydb/functional_tests/basic/ydb/schemas/events.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-- path: events
-  schema:
-    - name: id
-      type: String
-    - name: name
-      type: Utf8
-    - name: service
-      type: String
-    - name: channel
-      type: Int64
-    - name: created
-      type: Timestamp
-    - name: state
-      type: Json
-  primary_key:
-    - id
-    - name
-  indexes:
-    - name: sample_index
-      index_columns:
-        - service
-        - channel
-        - created