diff --git a/apiserver/mongo/initialize/pre_populate.py b/apiserver/mongo/initialize/pre_populate.py
index 17bb64e..7107384 100644
--- a/apiserver/mongo/initialize/pre_populate.py
+++ b/apiserver/mongo/initialize/pre_populate.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from typing import (
     Callable,
 )
 from urllib.parse import unquote, urlparse
+from uuid import uuid4
 from zipfile import ZipFile, ZIP_BZIP2
 
 import mongoengine
@@ -690,6 +691,19 @@ class PrePopulate:
                 continue
             yield clean
 
+    @classmethod
+    def _generate_new_ids(
+        cls, reader: ZipFile, entity_files: Sequence
+    ) -> Mapping[str, str]:
+        ids = {}
+        for entity_file in entity_files:
+            with reader.open(entity_file) as f:
+                for item in cls.json_lines(f):
+                    orig_id = json.loads(item).get("_id")
+                    if orig_id:
+                        ids[orig_id] = str(uuid4()).replace("-", "")
+        return ids
+
     @classmethod
     def _import(
         cls,
@@ -704,37 +718,46 @@ class PrePopulate:
         Start from entities since event import will require the tasks already in DB
         """
         event_file_ending = cls.events_file_suffix + ".json"
-        entity_files = (
+        entity_files = [
             fi
             for fi in reader.filelist
             if not fi.orig_filename.endswith(event_file_ending)
             and fi.orig_filename != cls.metadata_filename
-        )
+        ]
         metadata = metadata or {}
+        old_to_new_ids = (
+            cls._generate_new_ids(reader, entity_files)
+            if metadata.get("new_ids")
+            else {}
+        )
         tasks = []
         for entity_file in entity_files:
             with reader.open(entity_file) as f:
                 full_name = splitext(entity_file.orig_filename)[0]
                 print(f"Reading {reader.filename}:{full_name}...")
-                res = cls._import_entity(f, full_name, company_id, user_id, metadata)
+                res = cls._import_entity(
+                    f, full_name, company_id, user_id, metadata, old_to_new_ids
+                )
                 if res:
                     tasks = res
 
         if sort_tasks_by_last_updated:
             tasks = sorted(tasks, key=attrgetter("last_update"))
 
+        new_to_old_ids = {v: k for k, v in old_to_new_ids.items()}
         for task in tasks:
+            old_task_id = new_to_old_ids.get(task.id, task.id)
             events_file = first(
                 fi
                 for fi in reader.filelist
-                if fi.orig_filename.endswith(task.id + event_file_ending)
+                if fi.orig_filename.endswith(old_task_id + event_file_ending)
             )
             if not events_file:
                 continue
             with reader.open(events_file) as f:
                 full_name = splitext(events_file.orig_filename)[0]
                 print(f"Reading {reader.filename}:{full_name}...")
-                cls._import_events(f, full_name, company_id, user_id)
+                cls._import_events(f, company_id, user_id, task.id)
 
     @classmethod
     def _get_entity_type(cls, full_name) -> Type[mongoengine.Document]:
@@ -847,6 +870,7 @@ class PrePopulate:
         company_id: str,
         user_id: str,
         metadata: Mapping[str, Any],
+        old_to_new_ids: Mapping[str, str] = None,
     ) -> Optional[Sequence[Task]]:
         cls_ = cls._get_entity_type(full_name)
         print(f"Writing {cls_.__name__.lower()}s into database")
@@ -858,6 +882,11 @@ class PrePopulate:
             cls.project_cls: cls._upgrade_project_data,
         }
         for item in cls.json_lines(f):
+            if old_to_new_ids:
+                for old_id, new_id in old_to_new_ids.items():
+                    # replace ids only when they are standalone strings
+                    # otherwise artifacts uris that contain old ids may get damaged
+                    item = item.replace(f'"{old_id}"', f'"{new_id}"')
             upgrade_func = data_upgrade_funcs.get(cls_)
             if upgrade_func:
                 item = json.dumps(upgrade_func(json.loads(item)))
@@ -894,11 +923,15 @@ class PrePopulate:
             return tasks
 
     @classmethod
-    def _import_events(cls, f: IO[bytes], full_name: str, company_id: str, _):
-        _, _, task_id = full_name[0 : -len(cls.events_file_suffix)].rpartition("_")
+    def _import_events(
+        cls, f: IO[bytes], company_id: str, _, task_id: str
+    ):
         print(f"Writing events for task {task_id} into database")
         for events_chunk in chunked_iter(cls.json_lines(f), 1000):
             events = [json.loads(item) for item in events_chunk]
+            for ev in events:
+                ev["task"] = task_id
+                ev["company_id"] = company_id
             cls.event_bll.add_events(
                 company_id, events=events, worker="", allow_locked_tasks=True
             )