diff --git a/services/data/postgres_async_db.py b/services/data/postgres_async_db.py
index bf951d90..03d5a0a7 100644
--- a/services/data/postgres_async_db.py
+++ b/services/data/postgres_async_db.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import asyncio
 import psycopg2
 import psycopg2.extras
 import os
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ async def _init(self, db_conf: DBConfiguration, create_triggers=DB_TRIGGER_CREAT
                     minsize=db_conf.pool_min,
                     maxsize=db_conf.pool_max,
                     timeout=db_conf.timeout,
+                    options=db_conf.options,
                     echo=AIOPG_ECHO)
 
                 for table in self.tables:
@@ -366,6 +368,8 @@ async def create_if_missing(db: _AsyncPostgresDB, table_name, command):
     @staticmethod
     async def create_trigger_if_missing(db: _AsyncPostgresDB, table_name, trigger_name, commands=[]):
         "executes the commands only if a trigger with the given name does not already exist on the table"
+        # NOTE: keep a relatively low timeout for the setup queries,
+        # as these should not take long to begin with, and we want to release as soon as possible in case of errors
         with (await db.pool.cursor()) as cur:
             try:
                 await cur.execute(
@@ -378,9 +382,14 @@ async def create_trigger_if_missing(db: _AsyncPostgresDB, table_name, trigger_na
                     (table_name, trigger_name),
                 )
                 trigger_exist = bool(cur.rowcount)
-                if not trigger_exist:
+                if trigger_exist:
+                    db.logger.info("Trigger {} already exists, skipping.".format(trigger_name))
+                else:
+                    db.logger.info("Creating trigger for table: {}".format(trigger_name))
                     for command in commands:
                         await cur.execute(command)
+            except (asyncio.CancelledError, asyncio.TimeoutError):
+                db.logger.warning("Trigger creation timed out, no triggers were set up for table: {}".format(table_name))
             finally:
                 cur.close()
 
diff --git a/services/ui_backend_service/ui_server.py b/services/ui_backend_service/ui_server.py
index 7245f50b..1812d14e 100644
--- a/services/ui_backend_service/ui_server.py
+++ b/services/ui_backend_service/ui_server.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ def main():
     for sig in (signal.SIGTERM, signal.SIGHUP, signal.SIGINT):
         loop.add_signal_handler(sig, lambda sig=sig: async_loop_signal_handler(sig))
 
-    the_app = app(loop, DBConfiguration())
+    the_app = app(loop, DBConfiguration(statement_timeout=60))
     handler = web.AppRunner(the_app)
     loop.run_until_complete(handler.setup())
     f = loop.create_server(handler.server, DEFAULT_SERVICE_HOST, DEFAULT_SERVICE_PORT)
diff --git a/services/utils/__init__.py b/services/utils/__init__.py
index baf2e5e5..baff42a7 100644
--- a/services/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/services/utils/__init__.py
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ class DBConfiguration(object):
     pool_max: int = None  # aiopg default: 10
 
     timeout: int = None  # aiopg default: 60 (seconds)
+    options: str = None  # psycopg2 configuration options
 
     _dsn: str = None
 
@@ -182,7 +183,9 @@ def __init__(self,
                  prefix="MF_METADATA_DB_",
                  pool_min: int = 1,
                  pool_max: int = 10,
-                 timeout: int = 60):
+                 timeout: int = 60,
+                 statement_timeout: int = None):
+        self.options = "-c statement_timeout={}".format(statement_timeout * 1000) if statement_timeout else None
 
         self._dsn = os.environ.get(prefix + "DSN", dsn)
         # Check if it is a BAD DSN String.