In the presented review the results of studies devoted to the selective hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene over bimetallic palladium-containing catalysts are systematized. General regularities and peculiarities of the catalysts action in gas-phase hydrogenation of traces of acetylene in the acetylene-ethylene mixture obtained by pyrolysis of petroleum raw materials, as well as in the process of liquid-phase hydrogenation of mixtures enriched with acetylene and hydrogen are analyzed. The advantages of obtaining ethylene by hydrogenation of acetylene in the liquid phase are shown and ways of increasing the selectivity of this process are considered.