diff --git a/src/core/dev_api/openvino/runtime/shared_buffer.hpp b/src/core/dev_api/openvino/runtime/shared_buffer.hpp
index 859675344c98b8..fff78ab89750b1 100644
--- a/src/core/dev_api/openvino/runtime/shared_buffer.hpp
+++ b/src/core/dev_api/openvino/runtime/shared_buffer.hpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ namespace ov {
 template <typename T>
 class SharedBuffer : public ov::AlignedBuffer {
 public:
-    SharedBuffer(char* data, size_t size, const T& shared_object) : _shared_object(shared_object) {
+    SharedBuffer(char* data, size_t size, T shared_object) : _shared_object(std::move(shared_object)) {
         m_allocated_buffer = data;
         m_aligned_buffer = data;
         m_byte_size = size;
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/igraph.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/igraph.hpp
index a2175d7a7d16bc..91aed7793f5f17 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/igraph.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/igraph.hpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class IGraph : public std::enable_shared_from_this<IGraph> {
         }
     }
 
-    virtual void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) = 0;
+    virtual void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) const = 0;
 
     virtual std::vector<ov::ProfilingInfo> process_profiling_output(const std::vector<uint8_t>& profData,
                                                                     const Config& config) const = 0;
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/npu.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/npu.hpp
index 5dbe0698819fc7..a86aa62bd0963b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/npu.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/common/include/intel_npu/common/npu.hpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class ICompilerAdapter {
 public:
     virtual std::shared_ptr<IGraph> compile(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model,
                                             const Config& config) const = 0;
-    virtual std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& networkSO, const Config& config) const = 0;
+    virtual std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> networkSOPtr, const Config& config) const = 0;
     virtual ov::SupportedOpsMap query(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model, const Config& config) const = 0;
     virtual ov::intel_npu::CompilerType getCompilerType() const = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_compiler_adapter.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_compiler_adapter.hpp
index 29e766dcc54141..9f30c82da7f0d7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_compiler_adapter.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_compiler_adapter.hpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class DriverCompilerAdapter final : public ICompilerAdapter {
 
     std::shared_ptr<IGraph> compile(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model, const Config& config) const override;
 
-    std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& networkSO, const Config& config) const override;
+    std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> networkSOPtr, const Config& config) const override;
 
     ov::SupportedOpsMap query(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model, const Config& config) const override;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_graph.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_graph.hpp
index b360f4dea384ca..6dc1a0a5bc39e6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_graph.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/driver_graph.hpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class DriverGraph final : public IGraph {
                 const Config& config,
                 std::optional<std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>> blob);
 
-    void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) override;
+    void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) const override;
 
     std::vector<ov::ProfilingInfo> process_profiling_output(const std::vector<uint8_t>& profData,
                                                             const Config& config) const override;
@@ -36,10 +36,16 @@ class DriverGraph final : public IGraph {
     ~DriverGraph() override;
 
 private:
+    bool release_blob(const Config& config);
+
     std::shared_ptr<ZeGraphExtWrappers> _zeGraphExt;
     std::shared_ptr<ZeroInitStructsHolder> _zeroInitStruct;
 
     Logger _logger;
+
+    // In the case of the import path, the blob is released after graph initialization so it can not be any longer
+    // exported
+    bool _blobIsReleased = false;
 };
 
 }  // namespace intel_npu
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_compiler_adapter.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_compiler_adapter.hpp
index 6ce36e25f57f59..841d5a6c3c6131 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_compiler_adapter.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_compiler_adapter.hpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class PluginCompilerAdapter final : public ICompilerAdapter {
 
     std::shared_ptr<IGraph> compile(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model, const Config& config) const override;
 
-    std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& networkSO, const Config& config) const override;
+    std::shared_ptr<IGraph> parse(std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> networkSOPtr, const Config& config) const override;
 
     ov::SupportedOpsMap query(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model, const Config& config) const override;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_graph.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_graph.hpp
index 929d64ea7f73a0..0459abd8c354f2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_graph.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/include/plugin_graph.hpp
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ class PluginGraph final : public IGraph {
                 const std::shared_ptr<ZeroInitStructsHolder>& zeroInitStruct,
                 ze_graph_handle_t graphHandle,
                 NetworkMetadata metadata,
-                const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& blobSO,
+                std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> blobSOPtr,
                 const Config& config);
 
-    void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) override;
+    void export_blob(std::ostream& stream) const override;
 
     std::vector<ov::ProfilingInfo> process_profiling_output(const std::vector<uint8_t>& profData,
                                                             const Config& config) const override;
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_compiler_adapter.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_compiler_adapter.cpp
index daadd0dc80e535..8de79fd5fcb842 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_compiler_adapter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_compiler_adapter.cpp
@@ -206,11 +206,11 @@ std::shared_ptr<IGraph> DriverCompilerAdapter::compile(const std::shared_ptr<con
                                          std::nullopt);
 }
 
-std::shared_ptr<IGraph> DriverCompilerAdapter::parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& networkSO, const Config& config) const {
+std::shared_ptr<IGraph> DriverCompilerAdapter::parse(std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> networkSOPtr, const Config& config) const {
     OV_ITT_TASK_CHAIN(PARSE_BLOB, itt::domains::NPUPlugin, "DriverCompilerAdapter", "parse");
 
     _logger.debug("parse start");
-    ze_graph_handle_t graphHandle = _zeGraphExt->getGraphHandle(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(networkSO->get_ptr()), networkSO->size());
+    ze_graph_handle_t graphHandle = _zeGraphExt->getGraphHandle(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(networkSOPtr->get_ptr()), networkSOPtr->size());
     _logger.debug("parse end");
 
     OV_ITT_TASK_NEXT(PARSE_BLOB, "getNetworkMeta");
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<IGraph> DriverCompilerAdapter::parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::A
                                          graphHandle,
                                          std::move(networkMeta),
                                          config,
-                                         std::optional<std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>>(networkSO));
+                                         std::optional<std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>>(std::move(networkSOPtr)));
 }
 
 ov::SupportedOpsMap DriverCompilerAdapter::query(const std::shared_ptr<const ov::Model>& model,
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_graph.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_graph.cpp
index cea7e5bf4c94b9..64a41d7a1a9fb2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_graph.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/driver_graph.cpp
@@ -32,17 +32,18 @@ DriverGraph::DriverGraph(const std::shared_ptr<ZeGraphExtWrappers>& zeGraphExt,
     initialize(config);
 }
 
-void DriverGraph::export_blob(std::ostream& stream) {
-    if (_blob.get() == nullptr) {
-        const uint8_t* blobPtr = nullptr;
-        size_t blobSize = -1;
-        std::shared_ptr<std::vector<uint8_t>> blob;
-
-        _zeGraphExt->getGraphBinary(_handle, *blob, blobPtr, blobSize);
-        _blob = std::make_shared<ov::SharedBuffer<std::shared_ptr<std::vector<uint8_t>>>>(reinterpret_cast<char*>(const_cast<uint8_t*>(blobPtr)), blobSize, blob);
+void DriverGraph::export_blob(std::ostream& stream) const {
+    const uint8_t* blobPtr = nullptr;
+    size_t blobSize = -1;
+    std::vector<uint8_t> blob;
+
+    if (_blobIsReleased) {
+        OPENVINO_THROW("Model was imported (not compiled) by the plugin. Model export is forbidden in this case!");
     }
 
-    stream.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(_blob->get_ptr()), _blob->size());
+    _zeGraphExt->getGraphBinary(_handle, blob, blobPtr, blobSize);
+
+    stream.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(blobPtr), blobSize);
 
     if (!stream) {
         _logger.error("Write blob to stream failed. Blob is broken!");
@@ -51,12 +52,12 @@ void DriverGraph::export_blob(std::ostream& stream) {
 
     if (_logger.level() >= ov::log::Level::INFO) {
         std::uint32_t result = 1171117u;
-        for (const uint8_t* it = reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(_blob->get_ptr()); it !=  reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(_blob->get_ptr()) + _blob->size(); ++it) {
+        for (const uint8_t* it = blobPtr; it != blobPtr + blobSize; ++it) {
             result = ((result << 7) + result) + static_cast<uint32_t>(*it);
         }
 
         std::stringstream str;
-        str << "Blob size: " << _blob->size() << ", hash: " << std::hex << result;
+        str << "Blob size: " << blobSize << ", hash: " << std::hex << result;
         _logger.info(str.str().c_str());
     }
     _logger.info("Write blob to stream successfully.");
@@ -120,8 +121,34 @@ void DriverGraph::initialize(const Config& config) {
     _zeGraphExt->initializeGraph(_handle, config);
 
     _logger.debug("Graph initialize finish");
+
+    //  We are allowed to release the original blob because weights were loaded in NPU memory during
+    //  _zeGraphExt->initializeGraph(). The driver will not access the original blob from this moment on, so we are
+    //  releasing it here to avoid unnecessary memory usage.
+    _blobIsReleased = release_blob(config);
 }
 
+bool DriverGraph::release_blob(const Config& config) {
+    if (_blob == nullptr || _zeroInitStruct->getGraphDdiTable().version() < ZE_GRAPH_EXT_VERSION_1_8 ||
+        config.get<PERF_COUNT>()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    ze_graph_properties_2_t properties = {};
+    properties.stype = ZE_STRUCTURE_TYPE_GRAPH_PROPERTIES;
+    _zeroInitStruct->getGraphDdiTable().pfnGetProperties2(_handle, &properties);
+
+    if (~properties.initStageRequired & ZE_GRAPH_STAGE_INITIALIZE) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    _blob.reset();
+
+    _logger.debug("Blob is released");
+
+    return true;
+};
+
 DriverGraph::~DriverGraph() {
     if (_handle != nullptr) {
         auto result = _zeGraphExt->destroyGraph(_handle);
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_compiler_adapter.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_compiler_adapter.cpp
index 37a18aa27921be..accafa7c8365a0 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_compiler_adapter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_compiler_adapter.cpp
@@ -107,12 +107,12 @@ std::shared_ptr<IGraph> PluginCompilerAdapter::compile(const std::shared_ptr<con
                                          config);
 }
 
-std::shared_ptr<IGraph> PluginCompilerAdapter::parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& networkSO, const Config& config) const {
+std::shared_ptr<IGraph> PluginCompilerAdapter::parse(std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> networkSOPtr, const Config& config) const {
     OV_ITT_TASK_CHAIN(PARSE_BLOB, itt::domains::NPUPlugin, "PluginCompilerAdapter", "parse");
 
     _logger.debug("parse start");
-    std::vector<uint8_t> network(networkSO->size());
-    network.assign(reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(networkSO->get_ptr()), reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(networkSO->get_ptr()) + networkSO->size());
+    std::vector<uint8_t> network(networkSOPtr->size());
+    network.assign(reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(networkSOPtr->get_ptr()), reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(networkSOPtr->get_ptr()) + networkSOPtr->size());
     auto networkMeta = _compiler->parse(network, config);
     network.clear();
     network.shrink_to_fit();
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<IGraph> PluginCompilerAdapter::parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::A
     ze_graph_handle_t graphHandle = nullptr;
 
     if (_zeGraphExt) {
-        graphHandle = _zeGraphExt->getGraphHandle(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(networkSO->get_ptr()), networkSO->size());
+        graphHandle = _zeGraphExt->getGraphHandle(reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(networkSOPtr->get_ptr()), networkSOPtr->size());
     }
 
     return std::make_shared<PluginGraph>(_zeGraphExt,
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<IGraph> PluginCompilerAdapter::parse(const std::shared_ptr<ov::A
                                          _zeroInitStruct,
                                          graphHandle,
                                          std::move(networkMeta),
-                                         networkSO,
+                                         std::move(networkSOPtr),
                                          config);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_graph.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_graph.cpp
index a08f03e04a5657..07311650b9ebbb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_graph.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/compiler_adapter/src/plugin_graph.cpp
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ PluginGraph::PluginGraph(const std::shared_ptr<ZeGraphExtWrappers>& zeGraphExt,
                          const std::shared_ptr<ZeroInitStructsHolder>& zeroInitStruct,
                          ze_graph_handle_t graphHandle,
                          NetworkMetadata metadata,
-                         const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& blobSO,
+                         std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer> blobSOPtr,
                          const Config& config)
-    : IGraph(graphHandle, std::move(metadata), std::optional<std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>>(blobSO)),
+    : IGraph(graphHandle, std::move(metadata), std::optional<std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>>(std::move(blobSOPtr))),
       _zeGraphExt(zeGraphExt),
       _zeroInitStruct(zeroInitStruct),
       _compiler(compiler),
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ PluginGraph::PluginGraph(const std::shared_ptr<ZeGraphExtWrappers>& zeGraphExt,
     initialize(config);
 }
 
-void PluginGraph::export_blob(std::ostream& stream) {
+void PluginGraph::export_blob(std::ostream& stream) const {
     stream.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(_blob->get_ptr()), _blob->size());
 
     if (!stream) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/plugin/src/plugin.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/plugin/src/plugin.cpp
index 2719a7f092e4f7..b519fc3fa7b3b3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/plugin/src/plugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_npu/src/plugin/src/plugin.cpp
@@ -777,7 +777,8 @@ std::shared_ptr<ov::ICompiledModel> Plugin::import_model(std::istream& stream, c
         }
         _logger.debug("Successfully read %zu bytes into blob.", graphSize);
 
-        auto graph = compiler->parse(std::make_shared<ov::SharedBuffer<std::shared_ptr<std::vector<uint8_t>>>>(reinterpret_cast<char*>(blobSO->data()), graphSize, blobSO), localConfig);
+        auto blobSOPtr = std::make_shared<ov::SharedBuffer<std::shared_ptr<std::vector<uint8_t>>>>(reinterpret_cast<char*>(blobSO->data()), graphSize, std::move(blobSO));
+        auto graph = compiler->parse(std::move(blobSOPtr), localConfig);
         graph->update_network_name("net" + std::to_string(_compiledModelLoadCounter++));
 
         const std::shared_ptr<ov::Model> modelDummy =