diff --git a/tests/python_tests/README.md b/tests/python_tests/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5381708de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/python_tests/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# OpenVINO™ GenAI Tests
+
+This tests aim to validate support for vanilla and continuous batching GenAI APIs.
+
+## Setup environemnt
+
+In order to run tests first of all build or install OpenVINO GenAI library, follow instructions [GenAI Library README](../../src/README.md).
+
+Then install requirements for tests:
+```sh
+pip install -r tests/python_tests/requirements.txt
+```
+
+## Run Tests
+
+```sh
+python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m precommit
+```
+
+During the test downloaded HuggingFace (HF) models will be saved into the current directory. If you wish to place them somewhere else you can specify `GENAI_MODELS_PATH_PREFIX` environenment variable, e.g.
+```sh
+GENAI_MODELS_PATH_PREFIX=$HOME/test_models python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m precommit
+```
+
+If you have built GenAI library by yourself instead of using wheel please set `PYTHONPATH` so that test could find library, e.g.
+```sh
+PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:.../openvino.genai/build-Release/ python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m precommit
+```
+
+## Customise tests run
+
+Tests have `precommit` and `nightly` set of models. `precommit` contains lightweight models which can be quickly inferred, `nightly` models are heavier and required more time for interence. If you wish to run specific tests only for nightly models, you can use `-k` option, for example to run only multibatch and chat tests:
+```sh
+python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m nightly -k "test_multibatch and test_chat"
+```
+
+If you wish to run all tests except beam search do the following:
+```sh
+python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m precommit -k "not test_beam_search"
+```
+
+Argument `--model_ids` can be used to run tests selectively only for specific models. HF model ids should be separated by space, e.g:
+```sh
+python -m pytest tests/python_tests/ -m nightly -k "test_multibatch" --model_ids "TinyLlama/TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0 Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B-Instruct"
+```
+
+List of currently supported `nightly` and `precommit` models can be found in tests/python_tests/ov_genai_test_utils.py:get_models_list
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/conftest.py b/tests/python_tests/conftest.py
index 66212468af..f98f47ecf3 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/conftest.py
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ def pytest_make_parametrize_id(config, val, argname):
         return f'{argname}={val}'
     return None
 
-def pytest_configure(config):
+def pytest_addoption(parser):
+    parser.addoption("--model_ids", help="Select models to run")
+
+def pytest_configure(config: pytest.Config):
     marker = 'precommit' if config.getoption('-m') == 'precommit' else 'nightly'
     pytest.run_marker = marker
+    pytest.selected_model_ids = config.getoption('--model_ids', default=None)
+
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/ov_genai_test_utils.py b/tests/python_tests/ov_genai_test_utils.py
index 4ba71a1d48..bc95418aff 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/ov_genai_test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/ov_genai_test_utils.py
@@ -49,7 +49,10 @@ def get_models_list():
         model_ids = precommit_models
     else:
         model_ids = nightly_models
-
+    
+    if pytest.selected_model_ids:
+        model_ids = [model_id for model_id in model_ids if model_id in pytest.selected_model_ids.split(' ')]
+    # pytest.set_trace()
     prefix = pathlib.Path(os.getenv('GENAI_MODELS_PATH_PREFIX', ''))
     return [(model_id, prefix / model_id.split('/')[1]) for model_id in model_ids]
 
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/test_chat_generate_api.py b/tests/python_tests/test_chat_generate_api.py
index 94de8f6cc2..5a73d481d3 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/test_chat_generate_api.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/test_chat_generate_api.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config", configs)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_chat_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_chat_compare_with_HF(model_descr, generation_config: Dict):
     device = 'CPU'
     chat_history_hf = []
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ def test_chat_compare_with_HF(model_descr, generation_config: Dict):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config", configs)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_chat_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_chat_compare_text_history_with_HF(model_descr, generation_config: Dict):
     # compares with HF when history in ov_genai is save as a text
     device = 'CPU'
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ def test_chat_compare_text_history_with_HF(model_descr, generation_config: Dict)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config", configs)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_chat_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_chat_compare_statefull_vs_text_history(model_descr, generation_config: Dict):
     # Check that when history is stored in KV cache results are the same as when history stored in a text.
     device ='CPU'
@@ -144,6 +147,7 @@ def test_chat_compare_statefull_vs_text_history(model_descr, generation_config:
     {'role': 'user', 'content': 'What was my first question?'},
 ]
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('chat_config', get_chat_templates())
 def test_apply_chat_template(model_tmp_path, chat_config: Tuple[str, Dict]):
     tokenizer_config = chat_config[1]
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/test_generate_api.py b/tests/python_tests/test_generate_api.py
index 40eba92277..e2395cf8d7 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/test_generate_api.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/test_generate_api.py
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ def hf_ov_genai_tensors_comparison(
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config,prompt", test_cases)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_decoding(model_descr, generation_config, prompt):
     run_hf_ov_genai_comparison(read_model(model_descr), generation_config, prompt)
 
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ def test_decoding(model_descr, generation_config, prompt):
     condition=sys.platform == "linux"
 )
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_ov_tensors(model_descr, inputs):
     hf_ov_genai_tensors_comparison(read_model(model_descr), dict(max_new_tokens=20), *inputs)
 
@@ -182,6 +184,7 @@ def test_ov_tensors(model_descr, inputs):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("prompt", prompts)
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.xfail(
     raises=TypeError, 
     reason="pybind was unable to find ov::Tensor from openvino yet",
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ def test_genai_tokenizer_encode(model_descr, prompt):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("encoded_prompt", encoded_prompts)
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.xfail(
     raises=TypeError, 
     reason="pybind was unable to find ov::Tensor from openvino yet",
@@ -252,6 +256,7 @@ def test_genai_tokenizer_decode(model_descr, encoded_prompt):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("prompts", batched_prompts)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_multibatch(model_descr, generation_config, prompts):
     run_hf_ov_genai_comparison_batched(read_model(model_descr), generation_config, prompts)
 
@@ -264,6 +269,7 @@ def test_multibatch(model_descr, generation_config, prompts):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("prompt", prompts)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_beam_search_decoding(model_descr, num_beam_groups, group_size,
                               max_new_tokens, diversity_penalty, prompt):
     generation_config = dict(
@@ -281,6 +287,7 @@ def test_beam_search_decoding(model_descr, num_beam_groups, group_size,
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("max_new_tokens", [10, 80])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_stop_criteria(model_descr, stop_criteria, prompt, max_new_tokens):
     # todo: with EARLY stop_criteria looks like HF return unvalid out with sentence<eos><unk><unk>
     # while genai ends sentence with <eos>
@@ -323,6 +330,7 @@ def user_defined_callback(subword):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_callback_one_string(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     generation_config = pipe.get_generation_config()
@@ -332,6 +340,7 @@ def test_callback_one_string(callback):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_callback_batch_fail(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
@@ -340,12 +349,14 @@ def test_callback_batch_fail(callback):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_callback_kwargs_one_string(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     pipe.generate('table is made of', max_new_tokens=10, streamer=callback)
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("model_descr", get_models_list())
 def test_callback_decoding_metallama(model_descr, callback):
     # On metallam this prompt generates output which can shorten after adding new tokens.
@@ -359,6 +370,7 @@ def test_callback_decoding_metallama(model_descr, callback):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_callback_kwargs_batch_fail(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
@@ -380,6 +392,7 @@ def end(self):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_streamer_one_string():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     generation_config = pipe.get_generation_config()
@@ -389,6 +402,7 @@ def test_streamer_one_string():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_streamer_batch_fail():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     printer = Printer(pipe.get_tokenizer())
@@ -397,6 +411,7 @@ def test_streamer_batch_fail():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_streamer_kwargs_one_string():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     printer = Printer(pipe.get_tokenizer())
@@ -404,6 +419,7 @@ def test_streamer_kwargs_one_string():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_streamer_kwargs_batch_fail():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     printer = Printer(pipe.get_tokenizer())
@@ -412,6 +428,7 @@ def test_streamer_kwargs_batch_fail():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 def test_operator_with_callback_one_string(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
@@ -421,6 +438,7 @@ def test_operator_with_callback_one_string(callback):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("callback", [print, user_defined_callback, lambda subword: print(subword)])
 def test_operator_with_callback_batch_fail(callback):
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
@@ -429,6 +447,7 @@ def test_operator_with_callback_batch_fail(callback):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_operator_with_streamer_kwargs_one_string():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     printer = Printer(pipe.get_tokenizer())
@@ -436,6 +455,7 @@ def test_operator_with_streamer_kwargs_one_string():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_operator_with_streamer_kwargs_batch_fail():
     pipe = read_model(get_models_list()[0])[4]
     printer = Printer(pipe.get_tokenizer())
@@ -444,6 +464,7 @@ def test_operator_with_streamer_kwargs_batch_fail():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_load_special_tokens_ids_1(model_tmp_path):
     # test when there is an available config.json
     config_json = { 
@@ -458,6 +479,7 @@ def test_load_special_tokens_ids_1(model_tmp_path):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_load_special_tokens_str_2(model_tmp_path):
     # test with special_tokens_map
     special_tokens_map_json = { 
@@ -472,6 +494,7 @@ def test_load_special_tokens_str_2(model_tmp_path):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_load_special_tokens_3_(model_tmp_path):
     # special_tokens_map is not available 
     # but tokenize_config.json exists
@@ -498,6 +521,7 @@ def test_load_special_tokens_3_(model_tmp_path):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_load_special_tokens_3(model_tmp_path):
     # both config.json is availabel and tokenizer_config.json available
     # check that it does not read int values from tokenizer_config.json if they are in config.json
@@ -532,6 +556,7 @@ def test_load_special_tokens_3(model_tmp_path):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.xfail(
     raises=AssertionError, 
     reason="CVS-143410 ov tokenizer should be aligned with hf",
@@ -575,6 +600,7 @@ def test_load_special_tokens_4(model_tmp_path):
 ]
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config", invalid_configs)
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_invalid_configs(model_tmp_path, generation_config):
     model_id, temp_path = model_tmp_path
     config_json = {}
@@ -584,6 +610,7 @@ def test_invalid_configs(model_tmp_path, generation_config):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_valid_configs(model_tmp_path):
     model_id, temp_path = model_tmp_path
     pipe = load_pipe([({"eos_token_id": 37}, "config.json")], temp_path)
@@ -602,6 +629,7 @@ def test_valid_configs(model_tmp_path):
     dict(top_k=0, do_sample=True, eos_token_id=42, max_new_tokens=20), # invalid top_k
 ]
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("generation_config", invalid_py_configs)
 def test_python_generation_config_validation(model_tmp_path, generation_config):
     model_id, temp_path = model_tmp_path
@@ -615,6 +643,7 @@ def test_python_generation_config_validation(model_tmp_path, generation_config):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_1():
     # On this model this prompt generates unfinished utf string.
     # Test that pybind will not fail.
@@ -626,6 +655,7 @@ def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_1():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_2():
     # On this model this prompt generates unfinished utf string.
     # Test that pybind will not fail.
@@ -636,6 +666,7 @@ def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_2():
 
 
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_3():
     # On this model this prompt generates unfinished utf-8 string
     # and streams it. Test that pybind will not fail while we pass string to python.
@@ -648,6 +679,7 @@ def test_unicode_pybind_decoding_3():
 
 @pytest.mark.skip(reason="probably both models ov + hf doesn't fit to memory")
 @pytest.mark.precommit
+@pytest.mark.nightly
 @pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform.startswith("win"), reason="not enough space for this model on Win")
 def test_left_pad():
     # test left pad tokenizer post processing implementation